


she will be loved /// jason todd

by kcryanders



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (Comics), Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-01-22 16:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21305150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcryanders/pseuds/kcryanders
Summary: a girl named kai meets a boy named jason
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Koriand'r & Garfield Logan & Raven, Dick Grayson & Koriand’r, Garfield Logan & Conner Kent, Jason Todd/OC, Rose Wilson/OC
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. 1

I pull my jacket tighter around my body, not that I really need to it just feels like I should, to try and shield myself from the crisp cold San Francisco air as I walk the damp sidewalk. It’s just rained. My hair is still wet from it. The smell still lingers in the air. It’s my favorite smell, reminds me of when I was a kid and my Dad would let me jump in the puddles that formed in the street in front of our house. I’d get sopping wet, he’d take me back inside, give me a warm bath and a cup of hot chocolate. I miss that. It’s not like that anymore. No, it’s much more complicated now. I wish I would’ve known that then, maybe I would have cherished it a little more.

I take the small business card out of my pocket and flip it over to check the address scrawled across the back, to make sure I’m in the right place. I press the button on the intercom attached to the immensely tall building in front of me. After a moment a boy with green hair appears on the small screen.

“Can I help you?” He asks and looks over my disheveled appearance.

“Yeah, I’m looking for someone named Dick Grayson. Is he here?” I ask.

He looks slightly taken aback by my question before asking, “Who are you?”

“Can I just-“ I start to get frustrated but calm myself quickly before it’s too late. “Is he here? Please, it’s important.”

I guess he recognizes the desperation in my voice, “Hang on a second.” He says and steps away from the camera.

I bounce on the balls of my feet and bite my lip as I anxiously wait for someone to return.

A moment later a man with tousled brown hair steps in front of the camera, he looks to be late twenties, “Can I help you?” He says.

“Are you Dick Grayson?” I ask in a frantic voice.

“Who’s asking?”

I shift my weight, “My name is Kai, I was in Gotham a few days ago and bumped into this old guy who gave me this address and told me to find you. He said you could help me.”

He furrows his eyebrows, “What old guy?”

“He said his name was Bruce, didn’t give me a last name.” I say and his mouth gapes slightly like he’s surprised that Bruce would send me here to him. “He said there’s people here like me. So can you help me or what?” 

He looks at me for a moment, thinking, before pressing a button, “Come on in.”

The door to my right unlocks and push it open. I go straight to the elevator and press the up button. The doors shut and I lean back against the wall with a sigh. With each level higher I go a level higher my anxiety increases. A bright white light starts spilling out of my jacket pockets where my hands are. I take in a deep breath and push it back out. I repeat this again and again until the light dissipates. It does so just in time, the elevator doors open and I step out. Standing in front of me is Dick Grayson, the boy with green hair, a girl with short purple hair, and a boy with brown hair who looks to be about my age, he’s got a shit eating grin on his face. I’m sure it’s a permanent feature for him.

“Kai, was it?” Dick asks and I nod. “Welcome to Titans Tower.” 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“And this is the training room.” Dick says as I step down onto the mat. There are weapons lining the room and all sorts of equipment.

I spin around on my heel to face him, “What the hell is this place? And how is it, and you, supposed to help me?”

He shrugs, “That all depends on whether or not you want help.” I nod my head briskly, I’ve wanted to be helped ever since I was eight years old. “Okay, well why don’t you start by telling me why Bruce sent you here.”

I swallow hard. Telling him would mean revealing that I’m not exactly human. Well not human at all. Or, well I guess a little human if you think about it.

“It’s okay, you’re safe here.” He says reassuringly. “Supernatural abilities aren’t uncommon here.”

Sucking in a breath I stand up straight, “Can I have that?” I point toward the water bottle in his hand with my chin. He nods and hands it over. I twist the cap off and turn it upside down, letting the water spill out. Just before it hits the ground, I sweep my hand under it and dance it around my fingers almost like a snake slithering in the grass. Then I bring up to my mouth and blow causing the once flowing water to stiffen into an icicle in my hands. I look to Dick and he’s got an impressed expression on his face, “I uh, I set off a fire hydrant when I was trying to jack the guy’s car.”

He huffs a laugh, “Stealing from Batman. I guess you’ll have at least one thing in common with someone here.”

I feel my throat go dry, “B-Batman?” Dick just nods with a wicked smile. “Oh. That’s not anxiety inducing at all.” I say and I suck in a deep breath and the icicle in my hand shatters. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine, you’ll figure it out.” He says and I nod nervously. “Why don’t we find you a room.”

He walks out of the training room and I trail behind him.

______

I drop down onto the cushy bed after taking a steaming hot shower and putting on some clothes that I had in my backpack. This is the first time in a while I’ve had a bed to lay on. I’ve bounced from foster home to foster home for as long as I can remember. Some were nice with nice beds just for me, others weren’t. More often than not I slept on the floor or a couch. I’m definitely not eager to get back to that anytime soon. Maybe this can be a permanent situation for me. Maybe something will go right for me for once.

A knock sounds on my door and I turn to see the boy with brown hair leaning against the frame. I should probably learn these people’s names. I sit up and cross my legs underneath me.

“Stealing from Batman?” He asks with a smirk.

“Uh, yeah.” I say softly and he steps fully into the room. “I guess Dick told you about that.”

He nods, “I guess Bruce has a soft spot for thieves.” I furrow my brows at his statement. “He caught me trying to steal the hubcaps off the batmobile and instead of turning me in, he took me in. He helped me. I’ve worked with him ever since. Well, I guess until this whole Titan thing.”

“Worked?” I ask.

“Let me re-introduce myself.” He sticks his hand out toward me and I hesitantly grab it. “Jason Todd aka Robin.”

My mouth falls slightly agape, “Like Batman’s sidekick Robin? That Robin?” 

“I wouldn’t say sidekick per say- “

“You’re a sidekick.” I interrupt him without intending too. I expect him to be angry that I just called him a sidekick, but he looks at me with an amused grin.

He and I lock eyes for a moment, and I realize my hand is still in his and my heart beat starts picking up. Suddenly he pulls his hand away from mine with a hiss. I look down and my hand is covered in frost.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean too.” I apologize frantically. 

He rubs and blows on his hand, “So that’s what you can do? Ice stuff?”

I shift my weight and my mouth opens and closes. I don’t know how to respond since he completely dodged my apology. “I-I mean, yeah. Pretty much anything with water.”

He nods, “Cool.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry. I don’t really know how to control it-“

“Don’t worry about it.” He says, although I’m not entirely convinced that this isn’t something to worry over.

I swallow and nod, “Yeah, okay.”

He nods to me before walking out of the room.

I let out an aggravated sigh and flop onto my back. Maybe I can’t even be helped. I bring my hand over my eyes and the frost has dissipated away. I’ve got to get a control on this before something bad happens.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I sit huddled in front of the fireplace in the living room. I stare at the sparks coming off the top of the flames as the wood crackles. I shut my eyes and my body relaxes.

_Six-year-old Kai leaps off the curb and lands in a sizable puddle and lets out a care free childish giggle. _

_“Did you see that, Daddy?” She asks her father excitedly as he stands and watches her with a proud smile. _

_“Yeah, I did, Guppy,” A nickname he’s called her since she was born, “That was quite a splash.” _

_She jogs over to her father, in that almost waddle way that children do, and he scoops her up in his arms where he rests her on his hip. “Daddy,” She grabs ahold of his beard and pulls his face to her, “Can you do the thing, please.” She begs in a whisper._

_Her father looks around to make sure no one is around, “Okay.” He agrees and Kai squeals in excitement causing her father to let out a throaty laugh as he shushes her. _

_He places young Kai on the grass and stands in front of the puddle she jumped in a few moments ago. He kneels down and raises his hand over the puddle and just like magic, well that’s what Kai thought of it, strings of water come up and start swirling and dancing before her eyes. Kai is so focused on the water she doesn’t notice her hands and eyes are starting to glow a bright white. The water that was once dancing gracefully under her father’s hand suddenly becomes ice. Kai’s father blinks as he stares at the small ice puddle under his hand, not only is it odd because it happened so quickly but it’s also relatively warm out. He looks up at his daughter whose eyes are glowing with frost covering her hands. _

_He reaches out for her hand and the frost disappears and her eyes return to their normal blue, “Kai, sweetheart, are you okay?” _

_“I’m fine, but I didn’t know you could freeze stuff.” She says confused. _

_“Kai, baby, you did that.” Her father says hesitantly, not sure if he should’ve even told her. _

_“I did?” She questions and her father nods. “How?” _

“Kai!” A voice breaks through my thoughts and my eyes tear open. “You okay?” Dick stands next to me with a slightly worried expression on his face.

I open and close my mouth for a moment, “Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?” He looks toward the fireplace in front of me which no longer has a fire in it. I just nod. “Okay.” He says hesitantly.

I haven’t known Dick for very long, but I can tell he’s not really sure how to do this, whatever this is that he’s doing here.

I turn my head as I hear sounds of grunting and stomping coming from the training room.

“The boys must be in there.” Dick says to no one in particular. “We should go check on them.” This time he’s talking to Rachel, I think that’s her name, who I just noticed is standing behind him. They start to walk toward the training room together and he motions for me to come with them. I scramble to my feet quickly and follow behind.

“Fuck, man!” I hear Jason shout as we approach.

“You said don’t hold back.” Gar, I’m pretty sure that’s his name, defends himself.

“What were you doing? I was fucking blindfolded!” Jason shouts back at him.

“You said, ‘Don’t hold back’.” Gar repeats himself but imitates Jason this time.

“Should I get the hose?” Rachel says and steps down into the room.

“What’s going on?” Dick questions.

Jason sighs, “We did what you said. The blindfold thing. And then he went nuts on me.”

“He said don’t hold back.” Gar says one more time.

“Look, why do we need to learn to fight like this, man?” Jason asks Dick, “It’s idiotic, we have eyes.” He says and points at his now wide eyes, I guess to try and emphasize his point.

“In battle anything can be taken from you,” Dick steps toward Jason, “Your hands,” Dick grabs Jason’s arm and spins it over, taking the wooden sword from him. He then swings the sword over Gar, who blocks the impact with the sword in his hands, Dick then plunges the sword down in front of him. “Your feet,” Dick swings the sword towards Rachel and its centimeters away from her face. “Your eyes,” Rachel doesn’t even flinch, in fact she looks like she’s challenging him, like she knows she can hurt him more than he can hurt her. Dick spins around and suddenly the wooden sword is parallel to my neck, “Or your life.” I swallow hard. “No matter what is taken, you must be able to keep fighting and win.” He brings the sword down and rests the point on the ground. “Alright, get changed. Tac scenario is in the tech room in five minutes. And breakfast.”

Gar and Rachel walk out of the room, so I follow behind. They both run off to their rooms and I notice Dick and Jason aren’t behind me. I want to talk to Dick privately before the end of the day, I’m just not sure that this is the place for me. I don’t think any place is the place for me. I turn around to see if I can find Dick. As I approach the training room I hear talking. Jason and Dick must still be in there. I stand outside the door but don’t go in.

“Okay, here’s the thing, I could actually use some help with the others.” Dick says. “They don’t have the experience you have. Especially Kai, it’s her first day in the tower and she can barely control her powers.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jason says with a scoff.

“Did something happen?” Dick asks.

“I went to her room earlier to introduce myself and she froze the shit out of my hand.” Jason explains our little altercation. Dick lets out a small short laugh, “It’s not funny, I thought I got frostbite.”

“Anyway, they need your leadership. Someone they can look up too. You need to set the tone, I’m not Robin anymore. You are” Dick was Robin and now Jason is? Well, I guess Batman can’t keep the same guy around forever. Eventually you’ve got to trade in for a new model at some point.

“Hey, wait. If I’m Robin, who are you?” Jason asks.

Dick pushes air from his nose, “That’s a good question.” It sounds like he starts to walk away but he stops, “And by the way, watch yourself with Kai.”

I furrow my eyebrows. What is he talking about?

“What?” Jason asks.

“You went to introduce yourself? Yeah, right.” Dick says sarcastically.

“Fine. She’s kind of cute but she’s way too- “

“Cold?” Dick finishes for him.

“Yeah.” Jason agrees.

I shake my head. Who does he think he is, talking about me like that? I’m more than my powers. I’m a person with feelings just like everyone else. Being judged for something I didn’t choose is honestly one of the worst things in the world. I didn’t ask for powers and nor did I ask for the opinion of a powerless bird boy sidekick. I turn back and head to my room. Clenching my fists, I push an exasperated sigh out and flurries fall out of my mouth. I gaze down at my hands and they’re covered in frost. Yanking open the door closest to me, I step into a bathroom. My reflections got glowing white eyes and my hair has gone from blonde to icy white. The frost on my hands is slowly climbing up my arms. I need to calm down. I don’t even understand why I’m so upset. I shouldn’t be so upset. I grip the sides of the sink and drop my head down. My hair curtains around me and I try to focus on my breathing. _Power down_.

Suddenly I hear a breathless, “Woah.”

I pick my head up and see Jason standing in the doorway staring at me with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open.

“I gotta go.” I quickly push past Jason and head to my room.

“W- “Jason starts but he doesn’t finish. That or I don’t stay long enough to hear what he said. I don’t have to explain shit to him anyway.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I’ve held up in my room most of the day, but I had to come out at some point. Funny how you get hungry when you don’t eat. I grab an apple and fill a glass with water before sitting down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Wonder where everyone is? It’s dark out now. I take a sizeable bite of the apple and chug half the glass of water. I rest my chin on top of my hands as they lay flat against the table. The glass of water sits in front off my eyes. Flicking a finger up, a small whirlpool forms in the glass. A smirk falls on my face. When I put my finger back down the water stops spinning. I pick up my pointer finger and a small sphere of water lifts out of the glass. Honestly, I love doing small tricks like this. My Dad used to do these kinds of things all the time. So, it makes me feel closer to him in a way, I guess. The smirk on my face turns to a reminiscent smile.

“Thought you couldn’t control your powers.” The voice of Jason Todd scares the shit out of me, and the water ball turns to an ice ball and falls into the glass causing some water to splash out.

“Shit.” I say under my breath as I stand up and grab a towel to clean up my mess. “I- I can control water just fine.” I grab my glass and wipe up the dispersed water. “It’s just the ice shit I can’t quite figure out.”

Jason hums in response.

I glance over at him and he’s got his arms crossed over chest while leaning against the counter. He’s got a cockiness about him that I’m not sure he’s earned or he’s just like that. Whatever it is, I don’t like it.

“Did you need something?” I ask as I place my glass into the empty sink.

He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, “How come you can’t control your ice powers?”

“Why do you care?”

He shrugs again, “Curious.”

I shake my head, “My Dad knew water, he didn’t know ice. I guess I got it from my Mom and since she was never around to teach me.” I’m the one shrugging this time.

Jason just nods his head.

I think for a moment about confronting him about what he said in the training room this morning but decide against. It’s my first day here and I don’t want to start drama. I also think about asking him about what he saw in the bathroom. I hate when people see me white haired. It doesn’t happen often and usually only happens when I’m experiencing an intense emotion. I mostly hate it because then people can _see _I don’t have this shit under control at all. It makes me feel vulnerable, like I’m wearing my emotions on my sleeve, which I hate. But I quickly divert the conversation away from myself.

“So, where’s Dick?” I ask.

“Out.” He answers short.

“Doing?”

“Picking up a stray, I think.” He says with a bit of superiority in his voice.

“A stray?” I question.

“Yeah, it’s kinda his thing. Can’t you tell?” I think he may be referring to me. Or the other two. Maybe all of us.

I just hum and take another bite of my apple. After my eighteen years on this earth I have found it better to bite my tongue sometimes. It’s gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion. Again, I don’t want to be the cause of drama.

I decide to change the subject, “So, what exactly is this ‘Titans’ thing?”

“A team.” He says. “Well, it’s supposed to be. All we’ve done since we got here is train.”

I nod, “So, this is a superhero thing?” Jason nods with a smirk. Guess I inadvertently called him a superhero. Good job, Kai, add to his ego. “Bruce expects me to be a superhero?” I’m not really asking him, just speaking aloud.

“I guess so.” He answers anyway.

“Ha.” I shake my head, “He’s insane. I _am not_ the hero type.”

“No one ever thinks they are.”

“I can’t even control half of my powers, what kind of hero can’t control what makes them a hero?” I ask bewildered. “I can’t be a hero, I just can’t. There’s no way. I don’t even know where this shit comes from and you guys are going to expect me to use it to help people? That’s insane- “

Suddenly, amidst my anxiety induced rambling, Jason is standing in front of me with my wrist in his hand. My hand is covered in frost. I’m sure the other one is too but I don’t dare tear my gaze from the one he’s holding in front of me.

“First step is figuring this out.” He says gently. “And none of us expect you to be a hero.”

I finally move my eyes to look at his. I’m sure mine are a bright white. I don’t know how they don’t burn other people’s eyes when they look at them. 

I’m not sure how long he and I stayed like that. Could’ve been ten seconds or ten minutes. But it stopped when Dick walked into the tower with a girl in his arms.

“Is this a normal thing here?” I whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

After Dick came back to the tower with the girl, he changed the bandage that she had over her eye and placed her in one of the empty rooms as she was completely knocked out. Rachel explained that they had seen her on the news fighting some cops and jumping off a roof, so Dick decided to find her. Of course, she eventually woke up and tried to leave, like anyone who wakes up in a strange building with people they’ve never met would do. But Dick convinced her to at least talk to him before running away. So now Jason, Rachel, Gar and I have retreated to the training room to give them some privacy. Gar grabbed some snacks and Gatorades for him and Rachel.

“What do you thinks going on out there?” Gar asks as he sits down across from Rachel.

Jason is swinging around one of those wooden swords while I lean against the wall by the door.

“He’s probably trying to figure out who she is.” Rachel says and takes a few Cheeze-its into her mouth.

“He’s giving her a sell job. That’s what he does. He can’t resist a stray.” Jason says and I shift my weight.

“I mean, I knew he’d be bringing in knew people, I just...” Gar’s words stray for a moment. “I guess, I didn’t think it’d be so soon.”

“We don’t even know if we can trust her.” Jason says. “Hell, we don’t even know what the fuck she is!”

I drop my head down and bite the inside of my cheek. Were they talking about me like this when I got here this morning? They very well could have been. I mean, I don’t think I can blame them. It’s not like Batman sends teenage girls to people every day. Well, at least I don’t think he does.

“What she is, is a person who needs help.” Rachel says empathetically, like she knows what it’s like to need help when you can’t help yourself.

“Or is she a person?” Gar questions aloud and Rachel cocks her head at him, “How did she survive the jump?”

“So, you think she’s a metahuman?” Rachel asks.

“Yeah, or an alien. Like Kory.” He suggests.

“Well, if she was like Kory those cops wouldn’t be alive right now.” Rachel says.

I push myself off the wall, “Sorry to interrupt but, who is Kory?” 

“She’s an alien and she can shoot fire out of her hands.” Gar says excitedly.

“She helped us.” Rachel says.

I sit down next to Rachel, “Well, where is she now?”

Rachel and Gar look at each other and just shrug.

“She can fight, alright, I’ll give her that.” Jason directs the conversation back. “Whoever she is, she’s had training.”

“Did you guys see her eye?” Gar asks. “When Dick was changing the bandage?”

“What about it?” Rachel asks.

“It was gone. But the wound had already healed.” Gar says in amazement.

“You serious?” Jason asks.

Rachel scoffs, “She’s been here one hour, and you guys are already obsessed with her.”

“She’s a freak.” Jason spits. I drop my gaze down to my fidgeting hands. “My vote is we kick her ass out.”

“Okay, wait.” Gar laughs, “Who says we even get a vote?”

“Who says she even wants to stay?” Rachel says almost offended. “Look it’s hard to believe but maybe her idea of paradise isn’t sharing a bathroom with you Jason.”

I huff a small laugh and Jason sends me a look before turning back to the others. “I know how we can find out exactly who she is.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gar sits in front of a huge monitor as Jason and I watch. The silver haired girls bloody eye gauze sits under what looks like a microscope and tests run on the monitor. Dick left with the girl a little bit ago. He’s finally letting her leave, although I can tell he wants her to stay. He wants to help her. He likes helping people. He’s kinda good at it as far as I can tell. I kinda wish she decided to stay. It would’ve been nice to have a girl my age around.

“So, what exactly is happening?” I ask.

“That,” Jason says and points at the microscope thing, “Is scanning her DNA and soon it will be able to tell us her name, her parents names, pretty much anything the government knows about her we can know it too.”

My head snaps to Jason at the mention of parents, “This can find out who her parents are?” I ask almost desperately, and he nods. “So, hypothetically speaking, if I put some of my DNA in that it could tell me who my Mom is?” I try to be as nonchalant about it as possible but I’m afraid I’ve failed miserably.

Jason gives me an intrigued look, “Do you want to find out?”

“Seriously?” I ask, “What about finding out who she is?”

He shrugs, “We’ve got two scanners, we can run both tests at the same time. And we know your name so yours won’t take as long.” I just give him a skeptical glance before turning back to the monitor that’s still processing. Suddenly Jason grabs my arm, “Come with me. Let me know if the test finishes before we get back, Gar.”

I stumble for a moment as Jason drags me along, “Um, where are we going?”

“Just come with me.” He says again.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” I say as he pulls me down the halls.

Finally, he tugs me into a room that I recognize to be the infirmary. He drops my arm and heads over to some drawers.

“What are we doing in here?” I ask as I sit down on the bed.

“You said you wanted to find out who your Mom is.” Jason says as he turns around with a needle in his hand and my eyes go wide. “Chill, I’m just gonna prick your finger.”

“Couldn’t I just pull some hair out?” I ask as he walks over to me.

“Blood is better.” He says and sticks his hand out to me. I roll my eyes and place the back of my hand against his palm. “Don’t freeze me this time.”

“No promises.” I say sarcastically. He shakes his head and grips my hand in his before placing the needle over my finger and pressing down. “Ow!”

“Sorry, you’ve got pretty tough skin.” He says with a perplexed look. I wince as he squeezes a decent amount of blood out into a small dish and wipes my finger clean.

“That’s enough?” I ask.

“Should be, but we could always take more.” He says. I glance down and notice he’s still gripping my hand in his. He seems to notice as well because he quickly rips his hand away from mine, letting my hand fall into my lap. “Uh, lets go find your Mom.”

I nod and jump down from the bed to follow him back to the tech room.

…………..

After pacing the floor and counting all the tiles twice the computer finally makes a noise alerting us that it has found something. I lean over the control panel thing and stare at the large screen in front of me in anticipation.

A picture of me from when I was sixteen pops onto the screen, “Kai Aidair. 18-years-old- “

“Yeah, yeah I know about me.” I cut Gar off sounding a bit more aggressive than I intended.

He clears his throat and clicks around before a photo of my father appears next to me, a weak smile forms on my face. “Kalman Aidair, deceased.” Gar says softly and I can feel Jason’s eyes burning holes in the side of my head, but I don’t dare turn my gaze from the screen. “Uh, he was of Atlantean decent.”

“Holy shit.” Jason says breathlessly next to me. “You’re Atlantean?”

“Half. I’ve never been and all I know are the stories my Dad told me before he died.” I say and take a hard swallow. “Anyway, is there anything about my Mom?”

“Uhh,” Gar’s voice fades off as he turns back to the computer. A picture of a woman pops up. She’s got icy white hair just like mine when I lose all control. The air inside my body is suddenly gone. “Celeste Hale, also known as Mistress Frost.” Gar reads her name aloud. “Says she was experimented on as a kid and she developed abilities.”

I nod, “Is she alive?”

“Yeah, she’s alive. She’s in prison.” Gar says. “Apparently she’s been in and out of jail and prison for most of her life.”

“How long has she been in?” I ask and clench my jaw.

“Seven years, why?” Gar asks. I shake my head and clench my jaw but don’t answer. “Uh, Kai?” Gar says.

“What?” I answer angrily. I don’t mean to be angry at him, it’s not his fault.

“You’re freezing.” Jason says nonchalantly.

“What?” I ask confused and turn my head to him. He just nods down to my hands. I glance down and my arms are nearly halfway covered in frost which is spreading on the control panel that I have a death grip on. “Oh, sorry.” I say and pull my hands away.

“Look-“Jason starts to say something, but he’s interrupted by the computer making noises.

“Rose Wilson.” Gar reads as a picture of the girl Dick brought to the tower comes on screen. “And there’s her father, Slade Wilson.” A man in a military uniform appears next to her.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Jason says slowly as he stares at the screen. I can’t tell if he’s shocked or amazed or both.

“What?” Gar asks.

Jason takes in a breath before answering, “Deathstroke.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Dick has returned to the tower with Rose, apparently, they were attacked before she could leave. I guess she’s staying now. Gar and Jason explained to Dick what they had found out about Rose and her lineage when he got back. I slipped in what I had learned about my own family as well. I know it’s probably not as important who my parents are judging by how Jason reacted when Slade’s face come onto the screen. But I felt the need to tell Dick what all we had done while he was gone. I’m fairly certain we weren’t supposed to be using the tech room to dig into people’s personal information. And it’s nice to have someone to tell things about myself to for once.

“That’s Rose’s father?” Rachel questions. She and Dick are now in the tech room looking at our discovery.

“Yep. The one and only Deathstroke.” Jason says while gazing at the monitor.

“Is that someone you know?” Rachel asks Dick.

“Kind of. Old Titans business.” Dick answers.

“Check it.” Gar says and starts reading off the computer. “Former Delta Force commando, part of H.I.V.E. Select soldiers who underwent a series of experimental bio-enhancements. Huh. Out of the 35 trial subjects, the only one who survived was Slade Wilson. INTERPOL says he retired years ago after the death of his son, Jericho. I tried having the computer find-“

“I’ll take it from here.” Dick interrupts Gar and shuts off the computer.

An alarm starts going off suddenly followed by a robotic voice, “Security alert. Front entrance. Access denied.”

Dick switches on a small monitor in the control panel and three people are standing outside the front door.

A brunette woman looks up to the camera, “I guess you changed the code.”

Rachel chuckles softly, “Finally.”

We walk out of the tech room into the living room to meet these people after Dick opens the door for them. A brunette woman, a blonde woman and a man walk out of the elevator.

“You have no idea how much this place misses you.” Rachel says as she takes the blonde into a hug.

I place myself against the wall and Jason leans against the fireplace across from me.

“This place, huh?” The blonde asks.

“Mostly just me.” Rachel smiles as she pulls away and goes to hug the brunette.

“And me.” Gar says and hugs the blonde.

“So, where’s Kory.” Rachel asks.

“She sort of vanished.” Brunette says hesitantly.

Rachel’s face twists, “What do you mean vanished?”

“I don’t know. She’s not answering her phone.” Brunette explains before sighing deeply. “But she mentioned wanting to see Florida. I figure she just made an Irish exit and took a quick little trip.”

Rachel looks disappointed. I can see she cares a lot about this Kory person, and she’s hurt that she’s not here.

“Were you followed?” Dick asks as he steps into the room.

“We shell gamed before we knocked. Covered our tracks.” The man says in a smart-ass tone.

“You gonna introduce us to your friend?” The brunette woman asks and points to me.

I straighten up as Dick turns to look at me. He nods his head telling me to come closer. I rub my arm nervously as I walk over to Dick.

He places a hand on my shoulder, “This is Donna,” He points to the brunette, “And Hank and Dawn.” He points to the man and the blonde, “Guys, this is Kai. Bruce sent her.” Their expressions seem shocked at this. “Kai, this is the old Titans team. Wonder Girl, Hawk, and Dove.” He points to them in the same order as before.

“Hi.” I say meekly with a small wave. They women give me a warm smile and Hank just nods at me.

“Alright, can you guys give us a minute?” Dick asks. Rachel, Gar, and I start to walk out of the room. “You too, Jason.”

Jason huffs, “Come on, man. I can help.”

“You want to help?” Dick asks. “Fine, uh Kai?”

I spin around on my heel. “Yeah?”

“Where did you say your Mom was locked up at?” He asks.

The former Titans all give me strange looks.

“Uh, Sacramento, why?” I ask hesitantly.

Dick digs in his pocket for a moment before pulling out keys and tossing them to Jason who catches them clumsily. He looks up at Dick was the same confused expression that’s on my face.

“Jason, you can help by taking Kai to see her Mom.” Dick says.

“What?” Jason and I say simultaneously.

Dick looks at his watch, “If you leave now, you’ll make it back before the sun goes down.”

“Are you serious?” I ask completely bewildered.

“Yeah, take my car and go.” He says.

“My car.” Donna corrects.

“You know what I mean.” Dick retorts. The relationship between those two seems special, almost like siblings.

“Dick, are you kidding me?” Jason asks and his voice is showing how irritated his is.

“No, now go.” He says authoritatively. He sounds like a real leader.

Jason sighs before eyeing me and walking toward the elevator in a huff. He turns to look at me still planted in my spot, “You coming, or what?” He asks aggressively.

I quickly shuffle to the elevator just as the door opens and step inside.

As soon as the elevator doors shut Jason rolls his eyes and smacks the back of his head against the wall. This is gonna be a long drive.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

We’re about forty-five minutes into our drive and Jason is just as irritated as when we left. Every few minutes he sighs or rolls his eyes. Honestly, this isn’t my ideal way to spend a day but it’s not my fault and he could at least try to pretend he’s enjoying himself.

“Do you have to put your feet on the dash?” He snaps at me suddenly.

“Do you have to be an asshole?” I ask with just as much aggravation in my voice. “You know, I didn’t ask for this so don’t throw your hissy fit at me.”

“I’m not having a hissy fit.” He says with a scoff.

“Oh yeah, you’re totally happy.” I say sarcastically.

He shakes his head, “Whatever.”

I roll my eyes before leaning forward and switching on the radio and scrolling through the channels looking for something to listen too.

“Will you just pick something for fucks sake.” Jason snaps again.

“Fine.” I stop it on whatever radio station it lands and slump back in my seat.

The beginning notes of ‘She Will be Loved’ by Maroon 5 fills the car and a small smile graces my face. My Dad used to sing this all the time. It was his favorite song. I start tapping my knee to the beat and humming. Once the chorus starts, I sing along softly.

We come to a red light and I can feel eyes boring holes in the side of my head. I turn and see Jason staring me down.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.” He shakes his head and looks back at the rode in front of us. “You have a nice voice.”

I’m taken a back, I wasn’t expecting him to compliment me, “Uh, thanks?”

“Hey, why didn’t you tell us you’re Atlantean?” Jason asks as the light changes and he starts driving again.

I shrug, “No one asked.”

He scoffs. “Alright. Dick kinda threw this at you but do you even want to meet your Mom? I mean, she’s a criminal.”

I think for a moment, “Yeah, but she’s still my Mom. I don’t know, she was never around when I was growing up and then my Dad died, and she still wasn’t there. I ended up going from foster care to foster care until I ran away at 15. I just want to ask her why. Why didn’t she care about me.” I clear my throat and sit up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop my whole backstory on you.”

“It’s fine.” He shakes his head.

“Sooo, what are your parents like?” I ask trying to change the subject to anyone but me.

He shrugs, “Kinda shit, I guess.”

I scoff, “What? So, you know pretty much my whole upbringing and you can’t even spare a single detail about yours?”

“Just because I know your life story doesn’t mean you need to know mine.” He says it so simply that it’s irritating.

I roll my eyes, “Fine. Then I guess, we’re done talking.”

“I guess so.” He says.

I let out a huff and lean into the seat before turning to look out the window. I catch my glowing eyes in my reflection in the glass. I need to calm down before it’s too late. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. When I open my eyes again, they’re back to their normal blue. I have got to get a grip. I can’t let him get under my skin like that. I don’t even know why he made me so angry. Every time I’ve been around him my powers just blow up like that and I don’t know why. I really hope my Mom has some answers for this shit because I’m getting really fucking tired of it.

…………………………………………………

A facility surrounded by ten-foot-tall barb wire fences stands before me. It’s a pale gray color and it looks like a very depressing place to be. It even makes the sky look a cold shade of blue. It’s all around depressing.

Jason and I walk into the visitor side of the building and it’s just as bland and cold as the outside. A woman sits behind glass looking very bored and there’s only one other person sitting in the room. I guess they’re waiting to see someone. Why else would they be here?

I walk over to the woman and place my hands on the little ledge at the base of the window.

“Do you have an appointment?” She asks without looking up from the paperwork in front of her.

“Uh, no.” I say softly.

“What can I help you with?” She says still not looking at me.

“Um, I would like to see my Mother.” I bite my cheek nervously.

The woman slowly brings her head up and gives me an annoyed look, “I’m gonna need a little more than ‘Mother’, sweetheart. Your Mama aint the only one locked up here. Can I get a name?”

“Right.” I smile awkwardly. “Her name is Celeste Hale.”

The woman slides me a visitor’s pass. “Down the hall, second door on your left. Pick a seat, she’ll be down in a few minutes, use the phone attached to the divider to speak to her.”

I place the visitor pass on my chest as the door next to us opens. I take in a deep breath and stare down the long corridor in front of me with anxiety bubbling up inside me.

“Honey, are you going in or not? I can’t leave this door open forever.” The woman says and I look over my shoulder to Jason who is standing with his hands shoved into his pockets and a scowl on his face.

Before I can stop myself, the words come out, “Jason, will you come with me?”

His expression turns confused, “What?”

“I don’t think I can do this by myself.” I say meekly.

“Kai- “

“Either go with her or your both gonna have to leave.” The woman warns us.

I look to Jason with pleading eyes and he lets out a frustrated sigh.

“Give me the pass.” He says and I feel a weight lift off me.

We walk down the corridor together and go into a room labeled visitors area. I tell the guard who I’m here to see and he guides us down to a spot near the end. There’s people and families spread along the row of meeting windows. Some crying, some laughing, some angry. We get to our window and there’s a woman with long icy white hair sitting on the other side. She looks exactly like the picture I saw in the tower. She’s got a few more wrinkles here and there but really nothing about her is different that I can see.

I slowly sit down in the seat, grab the phone and press it to my ear.

“Kai.” She breathes out and clutches her chest.

“Y-you recognize me?” I ask in disbelief.

She turns her head to the side and furrows her eyebrows, “Well, of course, you’re my daughter.” The way she’s so nonchalant about all of this like she didn’t abandon me makes my stomach turn. “Also, I gave you the necklace you’re wearing.”

I look down at the crystal hanging from neck. I’ve had it my entire life, never questioned where it came from.

“I remember the day I stole it.” She says fondly. I let out a sigh and roll my eyes.

“You look just like your father. Oh.” She dotes with a bright smile on her face. Her eyes drift behind me and her smile changes into a mischievous grin. “Who is this handsome young man behind you?” I furrow my brows and look over my shoulder at Jason. To be honest I kind of forgot he was here. He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks pissed off. Although that’s how he looks most of the time. “Is he your boyfriend?”

My eyes go wide, “What? No!”

“Oh, honey, don’t be shy. He’s very good looking, you should be proud.” She says and eyes him up and down.

“No! Ew! Look, he is not my boyfriend, and this isn’t what I came here to talk about.” I say in an exasperated tone.

She leans back in her chair nonchalantly, “What did you want to talk about?”

Swallowing hard and staring her straight in the eyes I say, “Why did you leave?” She looks taken aback, like she wasn’t expecting me to wonder where the hell my mother was all these years. “Why didn’t you come back? For me?” My voice catches in my throat and I can barely hold back the tears in my eyes.

She clears her throat before leaning her body against the small metal desk in front of her. Her eyes find mine but they’re cold. I don’t think there has ever been a sincere emotion behind those eyes.

“I’m in prison and this isn’t the first time I’ve been here, doll, and it won’t be the last. I can’t take care of a child. Trust me, you were far better off without me. I mean, look at me, kid. Do I look like the type of person that lives in the suburbs raising a little girl?” She asks with a scoff.

I don’t know if you can feel it when your heart shatters but I’m positive mine just did.

I let out a sigh, “After Dad died, I got passed around from shelter to shelter. Every time they found out I was “different” I’d get sent to the next house. Eventually I left on my own, and I lived on the street for a bit doing anything to survive. Which included living with a grown man I barely knew so that I didn’t have to sleep outside anymore. I lived with a man that was awful to me because I didn’t have my mother, who was out there somewhere, to take care of me. And I have this power that I have no idea how to control because you weren’t there. I have needed you for my entire life and you were never there for me.” I bite my lip and she drops her gaze. “Nothing?”

She opens her mouth for a moment before speaking, “I don’t know what you want to me say.” She shrugs, “I was out doing petty crimes, even working for Deathstroke from time to time. Is that what you wanted for a mother?”

I shake my head, “I just wanted my mother.”

We stare at each other intently without speaking a word. I know I’ve got tears staining my cheeks, but her eyes still look like ice, both literally and figuratively. I don’t know what answer I was looking for when I came here but I definitely got one. She doesn’t care. She never did.

“Times up.” A security guard says to my right.

Without a word I hang up the phone and I can see my mother’s mouth forming to say my name, but the phone is on the hook before she can even make a sound. I push my chair back and practically stomp out of the room.

I honestly forgot Jason was there until I heard him call out my name, but I ignore him and continue making my way out of the building and heading for the car.

“Kai!” Jason yells after me but again, I don’t respond. Well, I don’t respond until he grabs my arm and whips me around, “What the fuck just happened?”

I rip my arm from his grasp, “Nothing, lets just go.”

“What, all of a sudden you don’t wanna talk?” He asks with irritation.

“Yes, so can you just drop it?” I snap.

He doesn’t say anything, so I groan and turn back to the car.

“Wait.” Jason says and grabs my shoulders gently.

I turn around and lean against the door, “What?”

Jason shifts his weight and runs a hand through his hair, “Listen, I don’t know what the hell you’re so pissed about, but those phones in there aren’t too quiet.” I cross my arms over my chest and chew my bottom lip as I listen to him talk, “I know what it’s like to not have anyone give a damn about you. That shit sucks.”

I push myself off the car, “So what? All of a sudden you give a damn?”

He shakes his head, “No. But I’m not your Mom, so don’t get pissy with me.” I don’t respond but give him a look that says I understand. “Let’s go.”

The both of us get in the car and Jason starts the engine and starts pulling out of the parking lot. “So, boyfriend?” I’m not looking at him, but I know he’s got that shit eating smirk plastered across his face.

“Shut up.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Once Jason and I got back to the tower we split off to our separate ways. I go back to my room and decide to do some research on my dear mother and try to figure out what the hell it is that made her the way that she is.

I type her name into the search bar and tons of different news reports of her crimes come up. Everything from petty theft to bigger scale crimes that she committed with other people. People like Deathstroke. An article catches my eye and I open it. It says that she was forced to undergo experimental surgeries and drug testings under the force of her father, Dr. Richard Hale, a failed bio-chemical scientist. He was trying to figure out a way to better way for the body to regulate its internal temperature, but obviously it didn’t go as he planned. The drugs he injected his daughter with turned her blood ice-cold and gave her powers he never imagined of creating. She was only twelve years old at the time.

A knock sounds on my door causing me to jump.

“Sorry.” Dick steps in. “The others are in the training room sparing right now. I thought you might want to watch before you jump into it yourself.”

“Oh, um sure. I’ll be in there in a few minutes.” I say and he nods at me before stepping back out.

I take on last look at the article, there’s a before and after picture of my Mom. She looks just like me. Or rather I look just like her. Her before photo, she looks like a totally normal little kid. But the after. The ice-cold stare she has just shows how much the things her father did to her changed her. Both physically and emotionally. I shut the laptop and quickly change into some comfy clothes before making my way to the training room.

When I step in, I see Rachel, Gar, and Jason all wearing blindfolds and holding long wooden sticks. Each of them is moving with grace across the matt and the sound of the sticks smacking against each other and grunts fill the air. You can tell Jason has had more training than the other two. It’s the way he moves between them. You can also tell he’s way too arrogant about his skills as well. Gar and Rachel seem to be working together against him.

The three of them meet and their sticks clank together, Jason pushes through the both of them. He knocks Gar in the back before swinging around and hitting Rachel and she drops to her knee.

“Houston, we have contact!” Jason rips his blindfold off and sees me standing in the corner. He gives me a wink and I roll my eyes.

Rachel tears her blindfold away and an animalistic growl escapes her body. The stone on her forehead glows red and black stuff starts coming out of her back. She stands up and turns around to face Jason. The black stuff is surrounding her now and her eyes are also glowing red.

“Rachel?” Gar says her name cautiously.

And before I can even blink Rachel has Jason by the neck and they’re floating in midair.

“Oh my God.” I run over to the matt and try to think of something to do.

Jason desperately claws at Rachel’s hands but she just smiles and turns her head to a display of real swords. The display turns up by itself, pointing right at Jason.

“Rachel, stop.” Gar says through gritted teeth and suddenly it’s like Rachel realizes what’s happening and she drops Jason.

I rush over to check on him, “Are you okay?”

He waves me off, stands up then makes his way to Rachel, “You stay away from me. You fucking freak.” The harshness of his voice rattles me.

Then Dick walks in. “Is everything okay?”

Jason stares down Rachel for a moment before answering him, “No, it’s not. I don’t like being left out of whatever plans you relics are cooking out there, alright?”

Dick scoffs, “You didn’t miss anything. Gar, I need you.”

“What about me?” Jason asks.

“Keep practicing.” Dick answers and he and Gar walk out.

Jason turns back to Rachel, who has a very worried expression on her face, “You need to have that shit looked at. By, like, a fucking priest.” He spits at her and then walks out.

I take a tentative step in front of Rachel, “You okay?”

She swallows hard, “Yeah, I’m fine.” She says and leaves.

I can’t deny the anger that’s building in my chest and storm off to find Jason.

I can hear the music coming from his room and I bang my hand against the door. It swings open and Jason stands before me with a hand on his hip.

“What’s wrong with you?” I ask.

He furrows his eyebrows, “Excuse me?”

“Why would you say that shit to Rachel?” I push myself into his room.

“Sure, come on in.” He says sarcastically.

“You are an asshole.” I state.

He gives me a wide-eyed look, “She just tried to kill me but _I’m _the asshole?”

“Yes! Didn’t you see the look on her face?” I question.

“Oh, you mean when she was choking me? Yeah, the smile she gave me was just oh so comforting as she tried to make a kabob out of me.” He says and sits down on his bed grabbing a magazine.

I grab the magazine from his hand and toss it across the room, “No, I mean the look on her face after. She was scared.”

“She was scared? That freak tried to kill me!” He shouts at me and my blood boils.

“Stop saying that!” I scream back at him.

“She was gonna nail me to the wall with a bunch of swords.” He says.

I shake my head, “No, stop saying that word.” He looks confused, “Stop calling us freaks.”

He lets out a deep breath, “You guys aren’t exactly normal.”

“And you are? Batman’s sidekick.” I retort and he scoffs, “Look, you don’t know what this is like. Having powers that you have no idea how to control. It’s terrifying. And I could see it in her eyes that Rachel was terrified, I’ve had that some look on my face.”

He just looks at me with this unbelieved look before glancing down to my hands. I follow his gaze and notice the frost. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“I think you should apologize to Rachel.” I say.

He shoots up, “No way.” He says like he can’t believe I would even suggest that.

“Why not?” I ask annoyed.

“Because, in case you forgot in the last five minutes, she tried to kill me.” He says.

“She didn’t mean to.” I defend.

Jason bites the inside of his cheek then his expression changes, “I’ll tell you what, lets make a bet.”

“A bet?”

He nods, “Yeah, let’s spar. If you win, I’ll apologize. If I win, I go on my merry way. Deal?” He sticks his hand out in between us.

I narrow my eyes at him and think for a moment. Jason is a good fighter but he’s never fought me so he doesn’t know my moves and I could use that to my advantage.

I grab ahold of his hand, “Fine.”

He nods with a wide smirk, “Let’s do this.”

My face drops, “Right now?”

“Yeah, right now, let’s go.” He says and walks out of his bedroom.

I catch up with him and we make our way to the training room.

He grabs the same wooden sticks they were using but I stop him, “No weapons. Hand to hand.”

He nods, “Alright. Ready when you are.”

“Ready.” I say and he takes no time charging at me.

A fist swings at me but I drop down missing it by mere inches. When I pop back up Jason has a shocked look on his face. I take this moment to try and swing back but he blocks the hit with his forearm. We trade these moves back and forth for a few seconds.

“Okay, so you can fight.” He says as he grabs my arm and pulls me into his chest then wraps his arm around my neck. “But, I can fight better.”

I lean forward, flipping him down onto the matt and off of me. “You sure about that?”

He pops up and sends a kick to my side. It’s a kick that I return. I notice a water bottle sitting on the ground behind him. I know if I can get to it, I can use to get ahead of him. I start strategically placing my moves to get me closer and closer to the bottle. He lands a punch to my gut just as I get close enough. I kick the bottle into the air and immediately stick my hand up to follow it. Seconds later the bottle explodes, drenching Jason.

“You cheated!” He shouts.

“I didn’t say anything about powers.” I retort and he rolls his eyes before kicking my side again sending me to the ground.

I sweep his feet out from under him causing him to fall next to me. He then climbs on top of me and tries to pin my arms down. I flip us over and lock his arms down above his head.

“I win.” I pant out.

Both of us are heaving but neither one of moves to get up. Jason locks eyes with me and I feel my throat go dry. I swear he’s looking at my lips but I’m not quite sure because I am definitely looking at his. I try to tear my gaze away, but I can’t.

“Not yet.” He says suddenly and throws me off him.

My hand lands in a puddle of water and I can feel it start to climb up my arm. When I stand up, I bring my arm out in front of me and an icy sword is in my hand, centimeters from Jason’s neck.

“Woah.” I say lowly.

“Didn’t know you could that.” Jason says.

“Me either.” I say in disbelief.

Jason takes a step back as I bring my arm down. The sword melts down into water again and drips off my hand.

“Well, it looks like I win.” Jason says and my head snaps up.

“What? No, you didn’t.” I argue.

“You broke the rules. You said no weapons. And last I checked, swords, even ice ones, are weapons. So, I win.” He says triumphantly.

I shake my head, “I didn’t even know I could do that until a minute ago, that’s not fair.”

He just shrugs, “Hey, rules are rules.”

I glare at him and let out an exasperated breath. He gives me a once over before sauntering over to me.

“Look, if it get’s you off my back, I’ll apologize to the kid.” He says and I’m shocked.

I blink at him, “Really?”

He nods, “Yeah. And truthfully…” He drags out then grabs my hand in his, “I don’t want to ruin this thing we have going on.”

“Thing? What thing?” I ask confused.

He cocks his head, “Come on.”

“You’ve lost your mind.” I say with a laugh, “You didn’t even want to look at me this morning and now all of a sudden you think we have a thing? There is no thing between us.”

He runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek and gives me a cocky smirk, “If that’s true, why are you still holding my hand?” I lock eyes with him and moments later he rips his hand away from mine. “Okay, Frostbite.”

My eyes roll at the nickname, “You have made it clear you’re interested, so what happened between this morning and now?”

“Other than the fact that you’re super-hot?” He says sarcastically. I can’t tell if he genuinely means what he’s saying or if he’s just saying it to throw me off. “Honestly?” He asks and I nod, “You kinda beat my ass.”

I shake my head and scoff, “Guys are so simple.”

“You’re really turning me down?” He asks.

I scrunch my nose up, “Yeah.”

“Friends?”

“Apologize to Rachel and I’ll think about it.” I say and he nods. “I’m gonna go put on some dry clothes, you should too.” I walk out of the training room and I can feel him staring holes into my back.

……………………….

I walk down the hall towards the kitchen and I hear voices. It sounds like Rachel and Rose.

“Guess we’re both members of the ‘Bad Dads Club’.” Rose says as I round the corner.

“Platinum members.” Rachel jokes with a smirk.

“Benefits kinda suck.” Rose almost pouts.

“Members are pretty cool.” Rachel returns and Rose smiles.

Rachel and Rose have both noticed my presence now and turn their attention to me.

Rose nods to me, “What about you?”

“’Bad Mom Club’ actually,” I say and push myself up onto the counter, “Kai, by the way.”

“Rose.” She introduces herself. “How’d you end up here?”

I let out a small laugh, “Batman. I tried to steal his wheels and he sent me here instead of jail.”

Rose nods slowly, “Wow.”

“Yeah, but I’m starting to kinda like this place.” I say and give Rachel a small smile which she returns to me.

“Really?” Rose asks skeptically.

I nod, “It’s like I’ve finally found a place where I belong, ya know? This is the first place where the people around me don’t look at me like I’m a freak. Well, most of them.”

Rose has a look of contemplation on her face for a moment before looking back to Rachel and me.

“How are you feeling?” I ask Rachel.

She looks down and starts to fidget with her hands, “Alright, I guess.”

“Did Jason ever talk to you?” I ask and her head snaps up at me with confusion washing her face.

“No, why?” She asks.

I let out a groan, “I’m gonna kill.” I say as I hop down off the counter, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

I start walking around trying to find Jason and I’m about ready to give up when I get to the surveillance room and see him and Gar talking over the computer.

I step into the room quietly and cross my arms over my chest. “What are you doing?”

Gar and Jason both jump and step in front of the screen to hide what they’re looking at.

“You two are both gonna have to grow a few feet to be able to hide anything on that screen.” I say and push through them. “Dr.Light? What kinda lame ass name?” I laugh before turning to face them, “Who is he?”

“He’s an old enemy of the Titans. It’s why the relics are here.” Jason says referring to Donna, Hank and Dawn. “He broke out of prison and I think we may have found him.”

“Cool, let’s go tell Dick.” I say and start to walk out but Jason grabs my arm and pulls me back. “Or not?”

“Gar and I are going to find him.” Jason explains.

“Then we’ll call Dick for help.” Gar says, more to Jason than to me.

I nod, “Okay.” I drag the word out. “But, you and I,” I point between Jason and myself, “had a deal. And you haven’t delivered. So, I might as well tell Dick what you’re up to.”

Jason bites the inside of his cheek for a moment while staring me down, “Fine. I’ll do it after we come back from finding Dr.Light.”

“Promise?”

He rolls his eyes and exasperates, “Yes, I promise.”

“Great.” I say with a devilish smirk and start to walk out but Jason grabs my arm yet again.

“But you gotta come with us.” He says.

I furrow my eyebrows and Gar and I both speak simultaneously, “Excuse me?”

“How do I know you’re not gonna turn around and tell Dick as soon as we leave?” He asks.

“This is just for surveillance, nothing more?” I ask and Jason nods. I roll my eyes, “Fine, I’ll go.”

“Perfect, I’ll meet you guys downstairs.” Jason pats my shoulder and walks away.

I turn my gaze back to Gar, who has a look of concern plastered on his face. “We just got ourselves into some really bad shit, didn’t we?”

Gar nods, “Yeah, we definitely did.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um sorry this took so long to update, i lost my password and shit so hopefully this will be a little more consistent from now on. plus i'm home more bc of the virus. i hope you guys are doing well with that by the way, stay home, wash your hands, and be careful.


	3. Chapter 3

Gar and I are standing outside the tower waiting for Jason to come down. I can tell Gar is nervous as he fidgets with the flashlight in his hands. My head rests against the wall and I stare at the door as I grow more and more impatient. Using my foot, I push myself off the wall and groan.

“What is taking him so long?” I ask to no one and Gar shrugs his shoulders. “This was his idea and he’s making us wait for him.” I huff and lean back on the wall, “If he’s not out here in the next two minutes I’m calling Dick.” 

“Call Dick for what?” Jason’s voice fills my ears as he steps out the door.

I turn my head toward him, and I can’t help the laugh that falls from my mouth. My hand shoots up to try and contain the giggles, but it doesn’t work very well. Jason is decked out in his Robin suit, mask and all.

Jason gives me a flat look, “Alright laugh it up, okay. Get it out of your system now before we find Dr.Light.”

“I’m sorry.” I laugh, “Nice costume, Robin.”

“You done?” He asks in monotone.

I shake my head, “You know, it’s not Halloween yet.” I say and he rolls his eyes.

“Let’s go.” He says and starts walking. Gar follows along side him.

“Lead the way, Bird Boy.” I say with a smirk as I catch up to them.

Jason groans and I laugh.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Jason, Gar and I make our way down into the subway system. It’s damp and smells like feet. Every so often I feel a droplet of water jump onto me. It happens sometimes when I don’t mean it too. I think its nerves.

“I thought this was reconnaissance only?” Gar asks Jason as we go down a flight of stairs. “You’re a little overdressed.”

Jason just laughs, “Exactly. Reconnaissance and a homicidal psychopath.” He gestures to his suit. “Safety first.”

“I’m calling Dick.” Gar turns and starts back up the steps.

“Come on, man!” Jason calls after him. “You agreed to help me out. Please.” He and Gar share a glance before Jason gestures down the stairs, “Let’s go.”

“Come on, Gar.” I pat his arm, “As much as I’d like to see it, don’t make him grovel.”

Jason just gives me a sarcastic smile.

Gar turns back reluctantly and the three of us start down the stairs again. “Alright, lets split up.” Jason says when we get to the bottom.

“Huh?” Gar says and gives Jason a look.

“Yeah, I’m with Gar on this, you didn’t say anything about splitting up.” I say.

Jason laughs slightly, “Dude, have you never seen a horror movie before?” Gar asks frantically.

I cross my arms over my chest, “You said yourself this guy is a homicidal psychopath and you want us to spilt up? This isn’t Scooby Doo.”

“You wanna get out of here fast, right?” Jason asks rhetorically, “We split up and we’ll be out of here in no time.”

I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and stare down the dark tunnel in front of me that could potentially have a murderer in it.

“If you’re really that scared, then you can come with me.” Jason says and grabs ahold of my arm without waiting for a reply. “We’ll see you in a bit, Gar.”

….

Jason and I walk through a tunnel with our flashlights guiding the way. So far, we’ve seen a whole lot of nothing. I should’ve just told Dick about this. I’m exhausted.

“You look nice.” Jason says suddenly as his eyes fall over me. I glance down at my ripped jeans, blue tank top, white boots and jacket.

“Stop being weird.” I say slightly too harsh.

“Was just trying to give you a compliment.” He says defensively.

“We’re trying to find a murderer who just busted out of prison, do you really think now is the time to try and flirt?” I ask and he shrugs.

I roll my eyes and we continue down the tunnel in silence.

All of this is making me more and more anxious. The stupid “mission” we’re on plus the weird tension between Jason and I is making my heart race.

I jump at a sound and turn around.

“It was just water dripping.” Jason says calmly.

None of this stuff seems to phase him. I’d hate to know what he’s been through that doing something like this doesn’t bother him in the slightest. I wonder if I actually commit to this life if I’ll be like that one day too. I wonder if I actually want that.

I turn my gaze away from Jason and try to calm myself down.

I take my empty hand and pull the water from a puddle as we pass. I make it start dancing up and down my arm. A slight smile grows on my face and my heart rate normalizes. The water spins around my wrist before jumping over to my other arm to do the same.

“What are you doing?” Jason asks. I look up to him and he’s watching me intently.

“Helps me relax.” I answer before sending the water over to his body. I walk it up his arm and across his neck then down his other arm. His eyes follow and he moves his body with it.

I bring the water into a ball in between the two of us and spin it. Jason brings his hand up and pokes it causing the water to splash to the ground.

When I look up from the ground Jason is already looking at me. His eyes scan over my face and it feels like he’s getting closer to me by the second.

“Did you actually mean it?” I blurt.

Jason looks at me confused, “Mean what?”

“All that stuff in the training room,” I swallow, “that stuff about liking me. Did you mean it?”

He seems taken aback by my question, “Do you think I would lie to win a fight?”

I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t know. In the moment it kinda seemed like that.”

He nods slowly. “I think we should split up.” He says and turns away from me.

“Jason.” I call after him.

“I’ll catch up with you later.” He says and continues down the tunnel.

“What the hell.” I huff. “I’m gonna call Dick- he can’t hear me.” I throw my arms up and pull my phone from my pocket. 

The no signal sign blinks at me. Taunting me, telling me I have no way of calling for help. I throw my head back with a groan before shoving my phone back into my pocket. My flashlight points the way as I head back out of the tunnel too try and find Gar. I don’t think I’ll have much issue convincing him to go back to the tower with me. I can’t believe I even let Jason convince me into coming here with him. What was I thinking?

I hear footsteps coming up behind me and I spin around, “Jason?” My flashlight clatters against the ground when I see who is standing before me. “Deathstroke.”

I take a step back and my throat goes dry. He stands tall before me in full bad guy body armor with weapons attached to him. His helmet is split down the middle with orange on one side and black on the other, he’s got one glowing eye.

With every step I take away from him, he takes a step closer. Okay, Kai, you have to do something so that you don’t fucking die. I look around me for the closest possible source of water. A dripping pipe catches my eye and the puddle underneath is a decent size.

I focus all my energy into my hands, bringing as much water to them as I possibly can. He goes to grab the gun from the holster strapped to his thigh and I take this as the moment to send what I had hoped was an ice ball at him. The water ball I throw at him instead splashes against his chest and even though I can’t see his face I know it pissed him off. I don’t have time to worry about that right now, so I go with it and keep throwing water balls and trying to run away while simultaneously trying to freeze the water. Which is not going well and I’m running out of water.

Deathstroke takes a large step toward me, “Enough, child.” He says with a swift kick to my chest that sends me to the ground and leaves me struggling to breathe. I try to stand but he steps onto my chest and pushes me back down. “Atlantean, huh?” He says like I’m not at all a threat to him. And I’m not. He pulls his foot off my chest and kneels down next to me, “I’ve killed Atlanteans before.”

He grabs me by my shirt and pulls me up with him. “Jason!” I scream out and suddenly there’s a knife to my throat.

“Make another sound and I’ll kill you.” He threatens and I nod.

Deathstroke leads me through the tunnels and I try my hardest not to so much as breath the wrong way.

Finally, we get to the end of a tunnel and I see Jason. He’s on top of Doctor Light punching the shit out of him and for a moment I have a sliver of hope that we’ll get out of here alive. That vanishes when Doctor Light starts laughing and Jason turns his attention to Deathstroke and I.

“Kai.” He whispers and Doctor Light kicks him off causing Jason to let out a yell.

Doctor Light punches him a few times before Deathstroke gun-butts him twice in the head and he drop unconscious.

“Grab the kid and let’s go.” Deathstroke instructs and Doctor Light follows.

I’m gonna fucking die.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

My head droops from exhaustion. I’ve been trying to get out of these binds for God knows how long while Doctor Light just keeps bringing lamps into the room, slowly making it hotter and hotter. I almost let sleep take over my body when I hear coughing behind me.

“Jason?” I whisper over my shoulder to the bird boy who is bound to the other side of the pillar. “Are you finally fucking awake?”

“I’m up, doll.” He answers and I roll my eyes. “Are you okay?”

I swallow hard, “I’m alright, it’s just really hot in here and I’m getting really tired.” My eyelids start to get heavy. Doctor Light walks in with a lamp, he switches it on and starts pulling energy from it. “Great, another lamp.” I say sarcastically.

“Shut up!” He shouts at me.

“Ah, Doctor Light.” Jason says gaining his attention.

“The fuck are you doing?” I whisper.

“Trust me.” He says.

“Trust you? I’m in this shit because of you!” I say.

Jason ignores me and lets out a sarcastic laugh, “Did you come up with that shit yourself or did your parents sawder you with that bullshit? I mean, come on, what a lame fucking name.”

Yeah, I’m gonna die.

“Shut it.” Light warns.

“What? Is my talking annoying you, dickweed?” Jason laughs and Light starts walking toward us, “That’s the thing, I could do it all day, all night, and if you’re nice, twice in a Sunday.”

Light walks past me and stands in front of Jason. “I said shut the fuck up.”

Suddenly I hear sounds of kicking and Light grunting. I try to turn my head to see what’s going on, but my arms are in the way.

I hear a body drop.

“Night night, asshole.” Jason says and I let out a sigh of relief.

Jason steps into view and a smile spreads across my face. He reaches up to undo my binds, “Never did I ever think I’d be grateful to see your face or for your big mouth.”

My binds loosen and I slip my hands out. I try to put my weight on my feet again, but my legs wobble and I almost fall. Jason catches me. 

“You okay?” He asks and I nod, pushing myself back up. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, once I get out of here and get some water, I’ll be good.” I look up at him, “Thank you.”

He smirks slightly, “Thank me, later. Let’s get out of here.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I say.

“I’ll go this way and you go that way; we’ll meet outside.” He says and starts to run off, but I put my hand on his chest to stop him.

“Hold on, you want to split up again? Because that worked out so great the first time?” I remind him of what got us in this situation.

He gives me a hard look, “Kai, we don’t have time for this. Just go, I’ll meet you outside. I promise.”

I study his face for a moment and realize he’s right, we don’t have time for this. “Fine.”

We go past each other, running off in different directions looking for a way out. I throw one last glance over my shoulder at him as he runs toward some stairs before running as fast as I can muster right now. I think we’re in a warehouse, I’m not sure, but it takes me a while of weaving in and out of hallways to find a door.

But of course, when I try to push it open, I’m met with resistance. Obviously, they would lock the doors, Kai.

I look around for something to help me get out of here and I spy a pipe going from the ceiling to the floor. And conveniently there’s a monkey wrench on the floor. I grab it and prepare myself to swing, “Please be a water pipe.” I beg and send two strong (as I can) hits to the pipe and it bursts, pouring water out of it. “Yes.”

I drink some quickly to try and gain some strength back before standing back and guiding the water onto the handles, soaking it into the lock. “Okay, Kai, you can do this. Just concentrate.” I whisper to myself.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath; I send my energy into my hands and I feel a shiver go up my spine. I open my eyes and the water is frozen. “Yes!”

My head snaps up when I hear footsteps approaching. Okay, it’s now or never. I brace myself against the wall before pushing off and putting all my might into kicking the door. The frozen lock shatters letting the door swing open and I dash out of the building.

I find a place to hide and wait for Jason but the longer I wait the more it feels like he’s not coming. What if they caught him? God, Jason, what did you get yourself into? Damn it.

I can’t wait for him anymore; I have to get back to the tower and let everyone else know what happened. I need to save him.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The elevator doors open, and I stumble into the living room of the tower.

“Kai!” I hear Gar shout my name as he runs over to me. He hooks his arm around me waist and holds me up, “Hey, guys.” I say weakly.

“What happened to you?” Gar asks, “Where is Jason?”

“I’m gonna go get Dick.” Rachel says and she rushes off.

“Deathstroke found me. And Jason.” I answer Gar. “I need some water.” My voice comes out horse.

Dick and Rachel enter the room. “Put her in a chair.” Dick instructs.

“I don’t need a chair, I need water.” I mumble as they guide me to a stool in the kitchen.

“Kai, look at me.” Dick says as I sit down.

I bring my eyes up and blink, trying to clear my vision, “Which one? I need water.”

“Kai, where is Jason?” Dick asks.

I shake my head, “I don’t really know. I think it was a warehouse. When I got out I just sorta ran and didn’t stop until I got here.” I explain. “Can I have some water now?” 

“Can you remember any signs, something that will help us find him?” Dick asks.

I shake my head, “I’m gonna pass out.” I say and my vision goes dark.

………………………………..

A groan escapes my lips as I wake up, my hand goes to my throbbing head and my vision is bleary. I notice the tubes in my arm as it starts to clear. I glance around and notice I’m in the infirmary. I go to take the tubes out of my arm, but I’m stopped by a voice.

“I wouldn’t do that. It’s fluids, you were dehydrated.”

“Rose?” I push myself up and stare at her. She’s sitting in a chair near the bed.

“In the flesh.” She says with a smirk. “Dick and the rest of the elderlies are off trying to find your boyfriend.”

“Not my boyfriend.” I say with an eye roll.

She huffs, “That’s a lot to almost die for someone who’s just a friend.”

“How long was I asleep?” I redirect the conversation.

“Just a couple hours.” She says and stands up, “Rachel took the cold compresses off of a few minutes ago. I guess your blood is back to a nice icy temperature.”

“Did I really almost die?” I ask.

“No.” She shakes her head and sits on the bed, “That was a real stupid thing you guys did.”

My eyes snap to her, “You think I don’t know that?”

She shrugs, “Then why did you do it? Why didn’t you just tell Dick?”

“I- I don’t know.” I mumble. I guess that’s true. I don’t really know why I didn’t just turn around and tell Dick about this the moment I found out. That’s what I should have done and none of us would be in this situation right now. I wouldn’t be getting fluids pumped into my veins. Dick and the old Titans wouldn’t be out searching for a hopefully alive Jason. And Jason wouldn’t be stuck with a literal assassin right now. We’d all be here, preferably asleep right now.

I rip the tubes out of my arm and lean forward onto my knees, letting out a frustrated groan.

“How you feeling?” I pick my head up to see Rachel walking into the infirmary.

I nod, “I’m good.”

She gives me a weak smile, “Well, they’re on their way back up.”

“Did they find Jason?” I ask and she shakes her head.

“But, there’s someone here I want you to meet.” She says and I give her a quizzical look.

……………….

In the kitchen stands a tall woman talking to Gar. She’s got red hair and a dark complexion with green eyes. She’s almost got a glow to her. She’s gorgeous. Too gorgeous to be human. I’ve never seen anyone that looks like her before.

“Kai, this is Kory.” Rachel introduces us.

I give her a smile, “Nice to meet you, Kory. Gar and Rachel talk about you all the time. It’s nice to put a face to the name.”

She smiles brightly at me, “Well, it’s nice to meet you as well. I hope you don’t mind, but Rachel filled me in on what happened. Are you alright?”

I nod and force a smile, “Physically, yeah, I’m fine.”

The elevator opens capturing our attentions. Dick steps out and stops Kory and it’s like he’s in a trance. He’s captivated by her. In fact, all of them seem shocked to see her but, Dick most of all.

“What happened to Jason?” Kory asks and that seems to break their stares.

“Let’s talk in the training room.” Dick says and they all walk out. Kory included.

“It’s bad.” Rachel says and my gaze snaps to her. “I can tell. They don’t think we can handle the truth.”

“I know a way to find out.” Gar says. “Come with me.” And he starts out of the kitchen.

Gar leads us into the tech room and brings up the security camera footage from the training room.

“So, there’s cameras in every room.” Rose says to no one in particular as she watches the silent screen on front of us.

“Blame Bruce Wayne, he built the place.” Gar says.

“So, where’s the sound?” Rose asks as she looks over the control panel.

Gar stammers, “I don’t feel comfortable doing this, it feels sketchy.”

“Aren’t you tired of being lied to?” Rose asks with a certain inflection in her voice.

“Dick isn’t lying to us.” Rachel answers, “He doesn’t want us to get involved. He’s protecting us.”

Not sure how much I believe that to be honest right now.

“How does being kept in the dark make any of us safer?” Rose questions. “They’re hiding something.” She points to the screen, “And I wanna know what it is. Don’t you?”

I suck in a deep breath, “I gotta know if something happened to Jason. It’s eating me alive that I just left him behind like that. Please, Gar.”

He gives me a sympathetic look before turning back and pressing a button.

Kory’s voice fills the room, “Why don’t we find this guy and neutralize him?”

Donna laughs, “It’s not that easy. We barely survived his last attack.”

“Look Jason is hurt, alone, scared, and I- we all know what that feels like. Bottom line is, he’s one of us and she’s not.” Hank says. Who’s not? “So, handing her over, if it saves his life, I don’t know about you, but I can sleep a little better at night knowing I did the right thing.”

I don’t like the sound of this at all. They want to trade Rose for Jason?

“You good with this, Grayson?” Kory asks, very irritated. “Dick?!”

“Just give me a second.” He says.

“Don’t listen to him. They are just upset.” Rachel says.

“Rachel’s right. It’s just talk.” Gar tries to reassure her.

I turn to Rose but she’s expressionless as she stares at the screen in front of her.

“Quiet. I wanna hear ‘em.” She says.

“She’s just a kid.” Dawn’s gritted voice comes through the screen.

“Deathstroke’s kid.” Donna says, “Let’s be honest. The further away from us, the safer she’s gonna be.”

“If we leave her out there alone Deathstroke will hunt her down.” Dawn says like she’s reminding them.

“Or worse, we lose leverage over Deathstroke once he finds out she’s in the wind.” Dick says.

Dawn shakes her head, “We’ve gone down this path before, we all know how that ended. We’re not using Deathstroke’s kid to get to him again.”

Again? What are they hiding from us?

“Fuck it.” Hank says suddenly. “I’ll take here there myself.” He says and turns to walk away.

Kory’s voice stops him, “Have you lost your minds? You’re all turning into monsters instead of figuring out how to fight one.”

“Thank God for Kory.” Rachel says.

“She doesn’t even know Rose.” Gar says almost astounded that someone would protect a stranger.

“Rose?” Rachel says causing Gar and I to turn our heads.

“The hell did she go?” I ask as I stare at the spot she once stood. “Oh shit.” Realization washes over me. “Gar go tell the others. Rachel and I will try to stop her.”

The three of us rush out of the tech room. Gar heads for the training room while Rachel and I go for the elevator, where Rose is most likely headed.

But once we get there, she’s gone.

A frustrated groan escapes my lips and Rachel and I walk toward the kitchen.

“Let’s just wait her out.” Rachel suggests, “We can talk to her. Maybe she’ll listen to us.”

I spin around on my heel, so my back is facing her, “Why are we stopping her exactly?”

“It was your idea to go after her.” She reminds me.

I nod, “Right, I just thought that’s what Dick would want.”

I hear her hum, “You heard Dick, if Deathstroke finds out she’s alone he’ll kill her.”

“Yeah. I guess I kinda feel for her. I mean, if it was me Hank was talking about like that I’d run too.” I say as I play with my hands.

“He’d probably kill Jason too.” Rachel says causing me to turn back around.

I start to say something but then Rose runs into the room.

She breathes a heavy breath through her nose as she stares us down, “Get out of my way.”

“You don’t have to run, Rose.” Rachel says, “Dick will make sure you’re safe. I promise.”

“You’ve both been nice to me, but I won’t ask you twice.” Rose threatens.

“Rose don’t do this. You’re safer here, with us, than out there with your father.” I try my best to reason with her but I’m afraid my pleas fall on deaf ears.

“Rose, please.” Rachel says softly but to no avail.

Rose raises her fist to punch Rachel, but she swiftly blocks it.

“Rose!” I shout in surprise. I step in between the both of them and grab Rose’s arm but she pushes me off of her. I try to throw in a few punches of my own, but she blocks them all. Rose is a good fighter, much better than me and I’m not rested enough to even fight back properly. Rachel and I are trying to fight her together. The both of us either throwing or blocking punches and kicks. Rose kicks my legs out from underneath me, sending me to the ground then kicks Rachel bringing her down to a knee.

I groan and try to pick myself up I’m stopped when I see Rachel standing to her feet. She looks just like she did the other day in the training room. Red eyes and black goopy stuff coming from her back. Rose has a shocked expression on her face and I’m sure my expression isn’t much different. Rose goes to punch Rachel again, but she grabs her fist and throat. Rachel then picks Rose up and throws her over her shoulder. Rose groans and Rachel grabs her by the throat before forcefully sliding Rose across the floor into the wall. The sound of bones crunching makes me cringe. 

The goop surrounding Rachel dissipates and she gets that same look she had in the training room when she realizes what happened. She lets out a broken gasp, “Rose!”

I push myself up to my feet and everyone else rushes into the room.

“Rachel?” Dick calls out to her.

She just gives everyone an apologetic look before running off.

“Rachel!” Kory follows after her.

I turn my gaze back to Rose laying on the floor, her limps twisted and turns in ways they’re not supposed to be.

“What now?” Gar asks quietly as Dawn walks toward Rose.

She squats down and presses her fingers to Rose’s neck. “She’s alive.” Dawn says.

“What?” I ask aloud.

Then Rose’s body starts contorting and putting itself back into place.

“What the fuck?” Donna says as we all stare at the phenomenon in front of us.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After Rose ‘fixed herself’ she passed out and Dick put her in the infirmary. And now I guess we’re just waiting to figure out what to do next. I’ve been sitting in Jason’s room trying my best to remember where the fuck it was, we were, but everything before I passed out is hazy. I remember kicking the door out and getting to the tower. All the in between is lost. I don’t know why I chose to do this in Jason’s room. I guess, maybe it’ll remind me that his life is in danger and I could save him if I could just remember something. Like I didn’t already know that.

I push myself off his bed and start walking around. I let a finger glide over his stack of records before walking toward his desk in the corner. He’s got a couple photos lined up. None are framed, they’re all taped to the wall just above the desk. One is of him, a few years younger, with an older man. Huh? So that’s what Batman looks like under the mask. The other is more recent, maybe a few months old. It’s of him, Gar and Rachel. The corners of my mouth flip up into a soft smile.

“There you are.” Someone says and I spin around.

Gar walks into the room with his hands in his pockets. I can tell he feels just as bad about this situation as I do. “I’m sorry.” He murmurs softly.

I furrow my brows, “For what?”

“I shouldn’t have let us split up. I should have insisted we stay together. I should have just told Dick in the first place.” He says apologetically.

I shake my head, “It’s not your fault, Gar. Please, don’t blame yourself for this.”

“But-“

“No.” I say sternly, “There’s nothing you could have done to stop this. Jason was going to go look for Light with or without us.”

He’s not completely convinced by my words, but he doesn’t press us, “Dick wants us all in the kitchen for a meeting.”

I nod my head and follow him out.

Everyone is standing around the island when we walk in, expect Rachel who has perched herself on the counter. Gar climbs onto the counter behind Hank and I place myself next to him.

Dick has a serious expression on his face, “Hank was right. You we’re all right. Jason needs us. We can’t just stand here and do nothing. Deathstroke wants to make a trade, we make a trade.”

“We can’t hand over Rose.” Hank says thickly.

Oh? Now he cares about her?

“We can’t. We won’t. But I have an idea.” Dick shakes a phone at us. “Gar, you, Rachel and Kai will stay here with Rose. Protect the Tower. I’ll contact Deathstroke, confirm our meet-up at the Plaza. Then we take him down. Once and for all. Together.”

Everyone shares a look of agreement, well, the older Titans do. They then all split off to go prepare, I guess? Gar and Rachel head off to do their parts. But I stop Dick before he can get away.

“Dick, let me go with you guys.” I say and he sighs, “Please, I can’t protect the Tower like Gar and Rachel can.”

“But you want to go up against Deathstroke?” He asks almost sarcastically.

I shake my head, “No, I already did that in the tunnels. I just want to be there for Jason. I’ll stay in the van while you guys do your superhero shit, but please. I need this.” I beg.

He gives me a sympathetic look and drops his head down, “You_ have_ to stay in the van. Don’t come out for anything, got it?”

“Got it.” I smile, “Thank you.”

“Don’t make me regret it.” He says and walks away.

………………………………

Once the van is parked and everyone except Kory and I exit, I climb into the front seat next to her. I swallow thickly and keep my eyes forward. 

“Yep.” Kory says, answering one of the others talking in her ear I’m assuming.

“Gar and Rachel said you can make fire?” I say awkwardly, trying to fill the silence.

She nods, “They say you can make ice.”

I shrug, “Sorta. I struggle with it.”

“You’ll get better.” She says reassuringly.

“You think?” I ask.

“Yeah,” She turns to me with a confident smile, “You have to, it’s part of you.”

I nod and give her a soft smile.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Kory pull her earpiece out. “What are you doing?”

“Stay here.” She says and gets out of the van.

“Wait, Kory?”

“Stay.” She repeats and walks away.

What the fuck?

I look out the windshield and I can see Donna, Hank and Dawn standing outside the front of the plaza. They’re all looking around, they seem confused. They’re not the only ones. Do the people of this quote on quote team ever stick to the actual plan? Kory was supposes to stay with me. Mostly to make sure I don’t leave the van, but also to make sure I’m safe and to keep me updated on Jason’s situation. Now I’m left to watch after myself while a homicidal assassin could be anywhere, and I don’t know anything that’s going on with Jason. Hell, for all I know Jason, Dick and Kory could all be dead by now.

Pushing out an exasperated sigh I shove myself into the seat. The anxiety in my chest starts to rise rapidly.

Breathe, Kai.

I glance down to my hands and frost is already starting to form.

Stop it. Get control of yourself.

I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. A memory of my Dad comes forward in my mind. He’s crouched down in front of me, holding my hands. I’m five years old and I’ve got tear stained cheeks. It’s my first day of school and I was having a panic attack. He told me anytime I feel anxious I should find five things I can see, four things I can touch, three things I can smell, two things I can hear, and one thing I love.

I open my eyes to look around. Trees, buildings, three clueless former Titans, city lights, and the stars. The leather seat beneath me, my blue jeans, the frost creeping up my fingers, and the stone hanging from my neck. Damp air, grass, and smog. Traffic, and a helicopter. And one thing I love.

The sound of a crash grabs my attention. It’s close. I clamber out of the van and run toward the sound. When I round the corner, I see two people standing next to a crushed car.

The one facing me has on a black and red Superman shirt but the other with his back to me is wearing a fucking cape. 

“Jason!” I shout and he turns around with the widest smile I’ve ever seen him wear. I rush toward him and throw my arms around his neck. “I am so sorry; I shouldn’t have left you.”

He pulls back and shakes his head, “If you stayed, you would have died. Don’t blame yourself.”

I look over his shoulder at the boy standing awkwardly behind us. “Who is this?”

“He saved my life. I don’t know how to thank you.” Jason says the first part to me, the second part to him.

He smiles, “Just glad I could help.”

Suddenly two gunshots go off and the boy is on the ground struggling to breathe. Dick and Kory come running around the corner.

Jason and I are crouched down at this kid’s side.

“What happened?” Dick asks.

“He just saved my life.” Jason answers.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

We took the kid back to the tower and set him up in the infirmary. I hope he’s okay. I’m also wondering why the hell someone shot him. People don’t normally get shot for no reason.

Dick sent Jason and I to get some rest, but I can’t sleep. I’m sure Jason can’t either and the ceiling I’m staring at is getting pretty boring. I kick the comforter off my legs and push myself up out of the bed. My legs lead me out of my room and straight to Jason’s.

I bring my hand up and give a tentative knock on the cracked door.

“’S open.” Jason says softly.

I push the door further and step into the room. Jason is sitting cross-legged at the end of his bed staring out the window in front of him.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” I ask and he glances at me for a moment. I step around his bed and sit next to him. “I can’t imagine what happened to you while you were there but, I’m so so sorry that you had to go through that alone. I mean, you almost died. I just wanted to ask you, are you okay?”

He turns and locks eyes with me. “I don’t know.”

I nod, “That’s okay.”

“Will you stay here?” He asks softly and I nod again.

Jason scoots over and I follow suit before laying down. We’re not touching each other; we’re just laying together. I glance at him and his eyes are glued to the ceiling. I bring my hand in between us and find his laying at his side. I tangle our fingers together and give his hand a soft squeeze. For a moment he doesn’t respond, and I think about pulling away but then he squeezes back. I bring my head to his shoulder and close my eyes.

  



	4. Chapter 4

My arms tighten around my waist as my vision clears from sleep and I head toward the training room where I hear grunts and punching sounds pouring from. When I step in, I see Jason throwing blows to a heavy bag.

Jason grabs the bag with his glove covered hands and looks over his shoulder to me.

“How’d you know I was in here?” I ask as I walk to him.

“The temperature dropped.” He smirks.

I nod slowly with a smile, “What are you doing?”

He shrugs, “What’s it look like?”

“You should be resting.” I say concerned and he scoffs before turning back to punch the bag again. “I’m serious, Jay, you almost died.”

He stops again and turns his whole body to me, “So did you.” My gaze drops, “But you don’t hear me telling you what to do.”

“Well, I’m sorry for being worried about you.” I say meekly.

“Why are you worried about me?” He asks with a shake of his head.

“You fell fifteen stories, Jason. I think that’s a cause for concern.” I say, this time my voice is firm.

He stares me down before pulling the boxing gloves off his hands and sitting down on the platform behind him. I follow his actions and take seat next to him. My head finds his shoulder and his hand finds mine. He interlaces our fingers together. “Come back to bed, please.” I whisper.

His thumb ghosts across the back of my hand for a moment, “Since when do you give a shit about me?”

“Since someone tired to kill you.” I say only half joking.

He pushes a laugh out of his nose, “I’ll come back in a few minutes.”

I push myself up, “Don’t be too long, I’ll get cold.” I joke and he smiles at me.

_

I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I was awoken by music blaring. I sit up with a groan and grab my head, there’s a pounding surging through it. My eyes find Jason standing in front of the window, just staring. He almost looks like he’s in a trance. I slide out of the bed and slowly make my way over to him.

“Jay?” I say hesitantly as I slide my hand up his back causing him to jump slightly. “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” He stares at me for a moment trying to register what I said, “Yeah, I’m okay.”

My brows pull together, “Are you sure? You seemed a little out of it.”

He shakes his head, “No, no I’m good.”

I start to say something but the pounding in my head stops me. I clutch the side of my head and squeeze my eyes shut.

This time it’s Jason asking me if I’m okay.

I force my eyes open, “Yeah, it’s just a headache. I’m gonna go take something.” Jason nods as I turn toward the door, “And turn that shit off.”

I step into the kitchen and fill a glass with water, I down the whole glass in one go soothing my dry throat. I refill the glass before heading to the infirmary. Kory is standing over the kid that saved Jason when I walk in. Conner is his name. I hope he’s okay. It’d be a hell of a thing to save someone’s life only to lose your own.

I walk over to a cabinet and start rummaging through it, “How’s he doing?”

Kory sighs behind me, “Not sure.”

I find a bottle of ibuprofen and grab it. Turning around I down a few and take a large gulp of water.

“How’s Jason?” Kory asks.

“He says he’s okay but,” I shake my head, “I can tell he’s not.”

She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth and sits next to Conner, “Well, what about you?”

I shrug, “I’m alright, I guess. Other than this pounding in my head.” My eyes drift to Conner’s sleeping body. The image of him smiling widely after saving Jason last night comes to mind. “Remind me to thank him when he wakes up.”

“Will do.” She says.

I smile lightly at her before stepping out and heading back to Jason.

The pounding in my head gets increasingly worse as I walk the halls of the tower. It’s almost unbearable. Leaning against a wall I clutch my head in my free hand. I force myself to drink the rest of my water, maybe I’m still a little dehydrated. It does provide a little relief, just enough for me to stand and see clearly again. I stabilize myself and continue on.

When I turn the corner to Jason’s room, I see Rose bolting out. She pushes past me without a word.

“Um, what happened with Rose?” I ask as I step into the room.

Jason shakes his head, “We were just talking, and she found a record then flipped out.”

“A record?”

“Yeah,” Jason picks up the discarded vinyl, “She said it was her dead brother’s. Dick let me borrow them.”

Across the front of a David Bowie record the words _“Property of Jericho”_ are written, “Why would Dick have Rose’s dead brother’s records?”

He shrugs, “I don’t know. But she’s really pissed.”

“Maybe I should go talk to her.” I suggest.

“I don’t think she’s really in the talking mood.” He says.

I cock my head to the side and look up at him, “What about you? You wanna talk yet?”

He furrows his brows and shakes his head, “Nothing to talk about.” My eyes roll, “Really, Kai. I don’t want to talk.” He takes a step toward me and pulls the glass from my hand before setting it to the side. “We could do something else.” He says suggestively then pushes my hair out of my face and rests a palm on my cheek.

“Jay.” I groan out and pull his hand away.

“Come on,” He whines and pulls me into him while burying his face in my neck, “Distract me.”

I push him back gently, “Seriously, Jason, stop it.”

He presses his forehead against mine and shuts his eyes tightly, “Kai,” He breathes out, “Please let me kiss you.” He’s practically begging.

I shake my head and he pulls back, “I can’t.”

“Why?”

I swallow the lump in my throat, “Because, Jay, if we ever have something, I want it to be real and not just because of shared trauma.”

His face drops, “That’s what I am to you?”

A frustrated groan leaves my lips, “No! Listen, you saved my life and I’m so grateful for that, but we don’t know each other, and I want more than a night of almost dying to be the reason for us.” I grab his hands “So can we please just go to bed?”

Jason nods his head but won’t meet my eyes, “Yeah, but I think you should just sleep in your own room.”

“Ja-“

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He drops my hands and walks back to the window.

I look at him in disbelief for a moment then take a few tentative steps toward the door, “Alright.”

He doesn’t move even a little bit from his spot. He’s like a damn statue just staring out the window.

I grab the door handle and throw it open and start for my room. Although with each step the pain in my head intensifies. My hands clutch at my temples as I round the corner and I start to stumble. I brace a hand against the wall to try and stabilize myself. Soon my arm gives way as the pain becomes unbearable and my back crashes against the wall. I slid down to the floor and hold my head in my hands. Someone grabs my arms and I think they’re talking to me but I can’t hear. Picking my head up I force my eyes open and through my blurred vision I think I see Rose in front of me. I try to speak but all that comes out are muffled groans. Then everything goes black.

-

My eyes blink open and I sit up slowly. I’m in my room. There’s an IV drip connected to hand that I pull out. The pain in my head is finally gone. A chair is pulled up next to my bed like someone was watching me. I throw the covers off my body and go straight to the bathroom.

I step into the shower and let the warm water relax my muscles. Whatever the hell was wrong with me last night exhausted my body. I just hope whatever is was is over.

I wrap myself in a towel then pull my hair down from the messy bun it was in last night and step in front of the mirror.

“Holy shit.” I’m breathless at my reflection. My hair that was one blonde is now icy white. Just like my mother. But I’m not using my powers? I bring my hand up to touch it but then notice it’s covered in frost. Both of my hands are in fact. I open my palms up and little flurries fly off of them. Closing them again makes the frost dissipate. What the fuck happened to me last night?

I walk out of the bathroom to put some clothes on so I can hopefully go talk to my mother and figure out what’s going on but I stop when I see two newspaper clippings sitting on my bed. One is of my father’s obituary and the other is from one of my mother’s arrests. “The fuck?”

I throw on some clothes and grab the pages before going to the main living area to find out who the fuck did this.

When I walk in, I see everyone standing around looking at Dick who is holding a gun. “Deathstroke. He’s here, in the tower, he took pictures of all of us.”

“Dick, talk to me.” Hank says cautiously, “What’s with the gun?”

Dick looks around for a moment, “Jason.” He says and runs off down the hall.

“Jason?” I say in confusion, “Did something happen with Jason?”

Donna looks to me with a distasteful look on her face, “He’s been pulling pranks.”

“Pranks?” I question.

“He drew crucifixes on my mirror.” Rachel says.

“Bottle of bourbon for me.” Hank adds.

“Left a picture of our friend that Doctor Light killed for me.” Dawn says.

Donna murmurs adding, “Orange soda.”

Orange soda?

“What happened to your hair?” Gar asks, “And what is that?” He points to the papers in my hand.

I shrug, “I don’t know. I woke up and it was like this. And these are my Dad’s obituary and my mother’s arrest. I found them on my bed.”

“A gift from Jason.” Donna says accusingly.

I shake my head, “No! He wouldn’t do something like this.”

“Listen, kid, you don’t know really know him enough to say that.” Hank says.

I turn to him with anger written all over my face, “Neither do you. Where is he anyway?”

Dawn looks to the hall that Dick just ran down, “That hall leads to the roof.”

I start to the hall before saying over my shoulder, “I hope you feel really great about accusing a teenage boy who nearly died of trying to fuck with you while someone is literally trying to kill you all.”

I run up the stairs and throw the door open. When I step out onto the roof my heart drops to my stomach at the sight in front of me. Jason’s standing on the ledge.

I start to call out to him but Dick sticks his arm back signaling for me to stop. He’s sitting on the ledge a few feet away from Jason.

“I fucked it all up. Coming here.” Jason’s voice trembles, “You know, this happened before. I once spent two nights in juvey and four fucking people died. It follows me like a curse.”

Dick looks behind him for a moment then back to Jason, “Nothing’s following you.”

Jason shakes his head, “I’m the reason they all hate each other. The reason that kid got shot, the reason Kai doesn’t like me, the reason this place won’t work.” His words feel like a stab to my heart. He takes a shaky breath, “But I can fix it. Remove the poison.”

Jason slides his foot out past the edge. “No!” I scream, jetting my arm out in front of me and an icy ledge extends in front of him. How the hell did I do that? There’s no where near enough water around me for that.

“Jason!” Dick calls out to him, “Can I tell you something? Something I’ve never told anyone.” Jason turns his head to Dick. “It’s not you. You’re not the poison, it’s me. It’s my fault. It’s this secret that’s making us all sick. My secret.” Dick takes a moment, “I caused this. Five years ago, I did something. Something unforgivable.” Dick looks down for a moment and then back up at Jason, “I killed Deathstroke’s son.” He admits.

My jaw drops. Holy hell.

“Please come down so I can talk to the others.” Dick pleads.

“Jason.” I whisper desperately.

He looks back out over the horizon for a moment before climbing down off the ledge and back onto the roof.

I rush to him and throw my arms around his waist. He hugs me back tightly, “I’m sorry.” He whispers in my ear.

“Don’t apologize.” I say, “Just please don’t scare me like that again.”

He pulls back and grabs a piece of my hair, “Your hair?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” I say, “We have other stuff to deal with right now.” I look to Dick who is waiting for us by the door.

_

Jason and I sit at the table together while everyone else is in the kitchen. I have my hand resting over his, but he refuses to look anywhere other than the ground. Which I understand, he’s gone through some pretty traumatic shit over the last couple days.

Dick stands in front of us all with an apologetic look on his face. “I lied.” He starts. “I lied to you guys because I was afraid you’d leave this place. And me.” He addresses the younger of us, “And if that happened there’d be no Titans. And I lied to you too.” He says no addressing the Old Titans, “I said that Jericho was dead when I got to the church, but he wasn’t. He was alive. He died trying to save me from his father.” A deafening silence is the only thing filling the room, “I’m sorry. You all deserved better.”

I look to Jason to see his reaction but there isn’t one. I don’t even know how to react myself, to be honest.

The sound of a punch and a grunt captures my attention, “You lying sack of shit.” Hank stands before a bent over Dick who is clutching his face.

“How many other fucking half truths have you told us?” Donna asks angrily.

“At least you got a half truth.” Rachel’s voice is somber.

“My brother is dead because of you.” Rose says before standing from her seat. “I’m out.”

Jason stands, “I’m going with you.” My eyes follow him as my mouth gapes.

“Jason.” Dick calls out to him.

“You don’t decide what I do anymore. What anybody does.” He says firmly and walks away.

I push myself up and follow him out.

Jason goes into his room, grabs his backpack and starts throwing clothes into it. He notices me standing, wordlessly.

“You can come with.” He says as he walks into his bathroom.

I follow him in, “Go where, exactly?”

He shrugs as he pulls things from the medicine cabinet, “Away from here. Away from Dick.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea right now?” I ask and he stops packing to look at me.

He takes my hand, “Come with us.”

I stammer for a second, “I don’t know, Jason.”

“I’m not gonna take your boy toy.” Rose’s voice makes me jump.

I look over my shoulder at her, “Not what I’m worried about.”

She looks at me with a smile, “Good, I don’t swing that way anyway.” Rose looks past me to Jason, “You ready?”

He looks to me with almost pleading eyes.

My mouth opens and closes as I struggle to find an answer, “Okay. I’ll go.” I give in and almost immediately regret my words.

Jason smirks at me brightly for just a moment then he lets it fade away.

“Hurry up.” Rose demands.

I rush to my room and grab the backpack I brought with me to this place not that long ago. I grab all my things and stuff them inside the best that I can before zipping it shut and throwing it over my shoulder. I’m not sure how I feel about leaving this place, it feels like I shouldn’t. I mean, I don’t have control of my powers yet and something strange is happening to me right now. Titans tower just seems like the place I should be, but with what Dick just told us I don’t know if I can trust being here. Being here with him. A sigh escapes my mouth and I walk out into the hall where Rose and Jason are waiting for me.


	5. 5

The cab we took pulled to a stop on the side of the street and the three of us climbed out into the city of Gotham. I’m not very fond of Gotham, I spent a while here after running from my last foster home. To say the least it wasn’t a good time. I can feel my anxiety start to run high as I stand on the sidewalk, I take a deep breath and concentrate on keeping my powers under control, so I don’t alert Rose and Jason to how nervous I am.

Jason hands me my bag and I toss it onto my shoulder. “So? Now what? I mean, where are we gonna stay?”

“How about Wayne Manor?” Rose suggests with a quip in her voice.

“No.” Jason says firmly, almost angrily. “We’ll figure it out, right now I’m starving.” He starts down the sidewalk. Rose and I share a glance, I just shrug before we follow behind him.

Jason leads us to a small diner on the corner of the street. The three of us sit down at a booth together and give our orders to a small elderly woman. She made a joke about how if Rose and I wanted gray hair we could’ve just waited until we we’re her age. Rose rolled her eyes and I gave her a fake smile to hopefully save our meals from being spit in.

Rose looks to me when the waitress walks away, “What’s with your hair anyway, because I’m fairly confident it was blonde when I brought you to your room last night.”

“Brought you to your room?” Jason questions.

I straighten my back, “After I left your room last night, that headache I had got really bad. I couldn’t even hold myself up. Rose helped me to my room, and I passed out. When I woke up this is what my hair looked like.” I shake my head, “And I think my powers changed too.”

“Changed how?” Rose asks.

“I don’t know, everything just _feels_ different. Stronger somehow.” I lift my hands and lay them on the table, taking a quick look around to make sure no one is watching. Shutting my eyes, I concentrate all my energy to my hands and when I open them again there’s a small sphere of snowy frost spinning around in my palms like a snow globe. “I’ve never been able to do that before. I can _create_ cold, I used to only be able to control it and barley at that. I could be cold but, nothing like this.”

I close my hands and the frost dissipates then bring them back into my lap. Jason grabs my wrist and runs his thumb across the back of my hand. I look up to meet his eyes which are filled with guilt but I’m not sure why.

Rose clears her throat grabbing our attention and the waitress brings us our food. She waits for her to walk away before turning to me, “Maybe you should talk to your Mom about it, you said she’s got the same powers as you right?”

I scoff, “Why don’t you talk to your Dad?”

She bites the inside of her cheek and gives me a pointed look, “Point taken.” Her attention then changes to Jason, “So, Lover Boy, do you have a plan about where we’re gonna stay tonight or what?”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I have a few ideas.”

-

Jason’s idea was breaking into a house and beating up crackheads around Gotham. I guess he wants to clean up the streets of his hometown. I don’t blame him either, Gotham is thoroughly fucked up, I don’t understand why anyone lives here. Anyway, that’s how we’ve been spending the past few days and although it’s not really my ideal way to spend my time it is helping me learn to control my powers and become a better fighter. It’s got me seriously considering this superhero stuff though. Rose and Jason seem to enjoy it, Jason more than Rose. I guess I enjoy it too, but it’s proven to be hard for me to keep up with the both of them, it’s obvious that they have much more experience fighting than I do. Last night we were in an alley going up against a gang of drug dealers and I got cut on my arm, I didn’t even see the guy coming and it seems like the two of them have eyes in the backs of their heads. But that’s why I’m currently sitting at the bottom of the pool of the house we’re squatting in. I’ve figured out that I can heal cuts and other injuries with water, although the chlorine does burn a little. I suppose fresh or sea water would work better.

Muffled shouting catches my attention. Jason is standing at the edge of the pool looking down at me. I push myself to the surface, he holds his hand out for me and lifts me out of the pool. I grab a towel from a chair and wrap it around myself.

“How’s your arm?” He asks.

I flip it over to show him, “Good. Like nothing ever happened.”

He runs his fingers over where the cut used to be, “You need to be more careful.”

“I know, Jason.” I say firmly. This isn’t the first time he’s said this to me since we left and I’m sure it won’t be the last. 

“I’m just-” His voice is aggravated but he stops, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

I shake my head with a light laugh, “Yeah, I don’t either, but you know I’m not as trained as you or Rose so I’m gonna get injured every now and again. Especially if we keep doing what we’ve been doing the past few days. And how bad can it really be if I can heal myself?”

He nods to the pool, “You we’re down there a while.”

“Nice subject change.” I say and he just smirks at me, “It’s relaxing, something I haven’t been able to do for a while.”

“Well, how about, instead of knocking heads tonight, we go out?” He asks.

“The three of us?” I ask with a pointed look.

He sticks his tongue in his cheek, “Fine, the three of us can go out.”

“Okay, sounds fun.” I say with a smile.

“Cool. Go change and I’ll tell Rose.” He says then leans down to try and kiss me.

I dodge him, “Jason we talked about this.” His bottom lip rolls into his mouth as he looks at me with disappointed eyes. I press my hand to his chest, “I’ll see you in a bit.” I sidestep around him and head into the house.

-

The three of us sit at a table in a bar that Jason was able to get us into, I guess he knows the owner or something, we’re all having drinks and talking while someone is singing really bad karaoke on stage. Tonight, just so happens to be open mic night, to be honest it’s actually kind of fun watching people make drunken fools of themselves on stage.

“You should go up there.” Jason suggests as he takes a sip of his beer.

I scoff, “Yeah, no way.”

Rose looks at me over her glass, “You sing?”

“No!”

“Yes.” Jason says over me, and I shoot him a death glare. “Oh, come on, didn’t you say you used to sing at a bar?”

“That was a while ago, and I needed the cash.” I explain and take a sip of my drink.

“So, the only difference now is that you aren’t getting paid. What’s the big deal? Half the people in here are too drunk to remember tonight anyway.” She says as she eyes me with a mischievous look.

I fold my hands across the table and lean forward, “I said no.”

Rose rolls her eyes and stands from her seat, “Fine. I’ll be back in a second, I gotta use the restroom.”

“I just thought you might want to have some fun.” Jason says.

A smile spreads on my face and I rest my hand on his knee, “And I appreciate it but, I haven’t been on a stage in so long I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Jason glances down at the hand resting on his leg then looks back to my face before placing his hand over mine, “I’m sure you’d be amazing.”

“I know what you’re trying to do.” I say but make no effort to move my hand away from him.

“I’m not doing anything.” He says with a smirk. His free hand comes up and pushes a strand of hair from my face, “You look great, by the way.”

“Jason.” My voice is barely above a whisper.

He hums in response as he leans closer to me.

“I can’t leave you two alone for five minutes, can I?” Rose asks causing me to jump back.

I side eye her, “We we’re just talking.”

She raises her eyebrows, “Sure.” Her voice dripping in sarcasm.

I roll my eyes and lean back in my seat, “Whatever.” I take a sip of my drink and I can feel Jason’s eyes burning holes into the side of my head, but I keep my gaze forward.

A man walks on stage and dismisses the person who just finished giving the drunkest rendition of ‘Rehab’ I’ve ever heard in my life. A few scattered claps can be heard as the singer exits.

“That was wonderful.” The man says with faux enthusiasm and looks to a clipboard in his hand, “Alright next up we have Kai.”

I shoot upright in my seat, “What?” I look over to Rose who has a devilish grin on her face, “You didn’t.”

She shrugs, “I thought you’d have some fun.”

“No, you didn’t.” I say flatly.

“Yeah, you’re right, I thought it’d be fun for me.” She smiles wickedly.

I let out a long groan as the man calls my name again.

Jason nudges me with his elbow, “Come on, just get it over with. And you might have some fun.”

I stand with a huff, “Fine.” I step up to the stage and the man gives me his best customer service smile, “I’m Kai.”

He raises his eyebrows sarcastically, “Figured.” He turns the clipboard to me, “Pick a song.”

I look over the list, seeing all the classic karaoke options. One new option catches my attention though. If those two want me to have fun then I’ll have fun. I point to the page, “This one.”

“Great.” He says and hands me the mic before walking away.

Jason and Rose are both looking at me with the widest smiles I’ve ever seen them wear since I’ve known them.

I step to the middle of the small stage and set the mic onto the stand as the music starts up and bring the mic to my lips, “You say you love me; I say you crazy. We’re nothing more than friends. You’re not my lover, more like a brother. I’ve known you since we were like ten, yeah.” Jason’s smile drops as he realizes what I’m singing.

As the chorus starts I step out from behind the mic stand, “Don’t go look at me with that look in your eye. You really ain’t going away without a fight.” Jason shakes his head at me as if he’s answering the song, “You can’t be reasoned with, I’m done being polite. I’ve told you one, two, three, four, five, six thousand times.”

I step off the stage and start walking around the bar, by the time the bridge comes I reach our table and sit down between the two of them, “F-R-I-E-N-D-S that’s how you fucking spell friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S get that shit inside your head. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. We’re just friends.”

I can hear Rose’s laughter as Jason looks at me with his tongue in his cheek and annoyance in his eyes. I whip my hair theatrically as I turn back toward the stage. I saunter my way back while singing the rest of the song. Stepping back on stage I place the mic back on the stand, “Want me to spell it out for you? F-R-I-E-N-D-S. F-R-I-E-N-D-S.”

The bar erupts with applause with few drunken hollers and whistles as I finish the song and step off the stage. I make my way back to our table and sit down in my seat, “You know what? That was fun.”

Rose laughs lightly, “That wasn’t what I was expecting but I enjoyed it.”

“Yeah, that was something.” Jason says.

“It’s just a song.” I assure him and he raises an eyebrow, “I’m gonna go get us some more drinks.” I walk away with Jason’s eyes boring into my back.

There’s a few people sitting at the end of the bar and the bartender is with them, so I take a seat and wait for them to finish. My eyes scan over the liquor bottles lining the back wall reading the labels. The people at the end finally stand up and walk away with their drinks and as I go to call the bartender over a familiar voice makes my spine shiver.

“Kai, I knew I recognized that voice.” My body is frozen to the floor and refuses to move. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” I don’t make any effort to even speak or try to look at the man, if I can call him that, standing behind me. “What? Aren’t you gonna turn around? Come on, let me take a look at you.”

I squeeze my eyes shut trying to keep myself from shaking and turn around. And there he is. The man that I once lived with after running off from my foster home. The man who made my life a living hell for over a year. I met him in the bar I used to sing at, and he offered to let me stay with him for the night. Eventually it become more than just the one night. Of course, I actually thought the guy cared about me, I never thought that he, a man at least ten years older than me, would want to take advantage of poor, homeless sixteen-year-old me. Boy was I wrong.

“What do you want, Anthony?” I ask trying my best to keep my voice strong and not show him that I’m still absolutely terrified of him.

He looks at me with offence, “That’s all I get? No, ‘How have you been?’, ‘Nice to see you.’, ‘I’m sorry for running out on you.’ Nothing?”

“I have to go.” I say and try to go back the table, but he puts his arm in front of me. A glass in his hand, of course. Scotch on the rocks as always.

He looks over his shoulder then back to me, “Those your new friends you left me for?” I stammer looking for words as my heart rate picks up, “You ran out and got yourself a new boyfriend, I see.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I say frantically. “I need to get back to my friends.”

“No, we have some catching up to do, don’t you think?” He asks with a slimy smirk on his face. “My buddy Johnny just got out of jail. You remember him? I bet he’d like to see you too.”

The pit of my stomach falls as I realize this man has me trapped here with him and has zero intention of letting me go.

“Kai.” Jason’s voice calling my name fills me with hope as I see him and Rose walking towards me. “You okay?” He asks and looks over Anthony suspiciously.

“Just catching up with an old friend.” Anthony answers before I have the chance.

“Well, your friend and I were just about to head out.” Jason grabs my hand in his and tries to pull me away but Anthony steps in the way. Jason looks him up and down and scoffs, “Back off, man.”

“I said I was talking to a friend, so how about you back off. If you know what’s good for you.” Anthony threatens.

Rose steps in between the two men, “Listen, you’re gonna step back off of our friend and we’re gonna leave. If you know what’s good for you.” She mimics.

Anthony chuckles which doesn’t make Rose very happy, I can tell she’s about to hit him and I know that wouldn’t end well for me. So, before she can bring her hand up I grab ahold of her wrist and move her away slightly.

I turn back to Anthony and notice the sweat on his glass. I look over my shoulder to Rose and Jason, “I got this.” Looking back to Anthony again I put both my hands over the hand holding his glass, “You need to back off and never talk to me again. Don’t even think about me, okay? I never want to see you again in my life.”

Anthony yanks his hand from me, “What the hell?” He examines the now frost covered glass frozen to his hand. “What did you do me to, freak?”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” I grab his wrist and drive the glass directly into his face causing it to shatter.

He lets out a loud groan as he grabs his face.

Jason grabs my hand and the three of us high tail it out of the bar laughing.

\--

I step out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel before stepping out into the bedroom. I toss the towel away and put on some comfy clothes before flopping down onto the bed.

Knocking catches my attention, “Kai.” Jason’s voice calls through the door.

“Come in.” I say as I sit up.

The door swings open and Jason walks in and he sits down on the bed next to me, “Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?”

I shake my head, “Not really, but I feel like I should explain.” I pull my legs up and take in a big breath of air. “After I ran away from my last foster home I needed somewhere to stay, and the streets were dangerous, but I was dealing with it. Then one night, after I had done a set for this bar across town, I met Anthony and he offered to let me stay with him.”

“Wait, is he the guy you told your Mom about?” Jason asks, “You said he treated you like shit.”

I hum, “Yeah, but he and his buddies used to do whatever they wanted to me every night.” I blink back tears in my eyes as I remember being held down against the wooden floor of his apartment with hands covering my mouth. You’d think that would be the perfect situation for my powers to protect me but nothing. “Then I had enough one day, grabbed what I had, waited until he was gone and left.”

Jason pushes the hair off my shoulder and rubs his hand across my back, “I’m so sorry, Kai. I shouldn’t have brought you to Gotham.”

“It’s not you’re fault. Honestly at this point I thought he would’ve drunk himself to death.” I say lightly trying to bring the mood up.

A moment of silence passes, I guess he’s trying to process what I told him. Although it wasn’t much detail I’m sure he got the gist of the story.

“Is that-” Jason says suddenly causing me to look at him, “Is that why you keep pushing me away. Are you afraid of me?”

“No!” I assure him, “I’m not afraid, just being cautious.” He drops his gaze to the floor with a slow nod, “Listen, Jay, I _do_ have feelings for you. It’s just that you know all about me, some things I wish you didn’t but, you won’t tell me the first thing about you.” I place my hand on his cheek and turn his face to me, “This can’t be a one-way street, you’ve got to give a little.”

He stares into my eyes a moment before speaking, “Okay.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead, “Get some rest.” He pushes himself up from the bed.

I grab his hand, “Wait. Will you stay with me? For tonight?”

He gives me a barely there smile, “Sure.”

We climb into the bed together and Jason drapes his arm across my waist before pulling me into his chest. I fit perfectly, like I was made to lay right here.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not sure if i'll continue this or not so...enjoy anyway i guess


End file.
